


Fallen Angel [Haikyuu x Male Reader]

by GENERIC_PLAYER



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aobajousai, Karasuno, Male OC - Freeform, Shiratorizawa, male reader - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:35:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 37
Words: 54,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24070702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GENERIC_PLAYER/pseuds/GENERIC_PLAYER
Summary: ❝He was nicknamed the Fallen Angel. Once a powerful force to be reckoned with, now, nothing more than a memory.❞Started: 2/5/20Ended: N/A
Comments: 1
Kudos: 86





	1. Fallen Angel - OC

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!

NAME |  
[l/n] [y/n]

AGE |  
15 (As of July 2012)

BIRTHDAY |  
November 10th 1996

YEAR |  
First-year in Karasuno

HEIGHT |  
175cm

APPEARANCE |  
Let your imagination go wild

POSITION |  
Wing Spiker

PERSONALITY |  
A natural leader and detailed person. Isn't easily angered and can easily adapt to any situation or people. He's also good at analysing and making strategies. After the accident, [y/n] became more quiet and reserved and will occasionally explode when being pressured or in stressful situations.

EXTRA INFO |  
[y/n] - your name  
[l/n] - last name  
[e/c] - eye colour  
[h/c] - hair colour  
[b/n] - brother's name 

~ might be updated in the future ~ 

~ story starts during the exam season and before the Tokyo Training Camp Ark ~

~also available on Quotev and Wattpad under the same username~


	2. Fallen Angel - Prologue

❝ **He was nicknamed the Fallen Angel. Once a powerful force to be reckoned with, now, nothing more than a memory.** ❞  
  
  
  


Everyone remembered [l/n] [y/n], the Angel of Kitagawa Daiichi. He was a volleyball prodigy, an all-rounded player and the only one who can spike the King of the Court's 'King Tosses' properly. No one could forget the ace, the player that scored so many points for the team.

His overwhelming presence on the court made their opponents trembled in front of him, yet it calmed his teammates. They know he will be there, covering the holes of their strategies. They know he will be there, to attack and score, bringing them one step closer to victory. They know he will be there to cheer them up when they start to lose hope.

[l/n] [y/n] had a lot of potential... until he disappeared from the volleyball court. [y/n] started avoiding his teammates, skipping practices and before they knew it, he was gone from the school too. Nobody knew what happened, not even [y/n]'s best friend; Kageyama Tobio.

The team started falling apart without their Angel to guide them.

And thus came the nickname 'Fallen Angel'.

[l/n] [y/n] doesn't physically exist anymore. He was only a mere memory whenever Kitagawa Daiichi's volleyball team was mentioned.

Kageyama's last junior high tournament without [y/n] was tough. He remembered tossing the ball to his back, waiting for the familiar _smack_ to be heard as one of his teammate spike the ball, only to be met with a familiar _thud_ instead. It was a continuous stabbed to his heart as he watched his teammates walked away from him, their connection severed and broken forever.

Kageyama felt alone in the world. He wounds were still bleeding even though it had been months since that incident. It still hurts, even though he had found a team who had changed him for the better and accepted him for the person he is.

As for [y/n], he was still a distant memory that Kageyama desperately tries to grab on. His heart still ached at the thought of his missing best friend.

He never even had the chance to say goodbye.

Until now.

A single voice called out to him.

A voice Kageyama was too familiar with.

"Tobio..."

**To be continued...**


	3. Fallen Angel - 1

There was a rumour that Class 1-4 will have a new student today.

"Who would transfer in during the exam season?" Yamaguchi asked his best friend with a confused face.

"Who knows?" Tsukishima answered with a roll of his eyes. He flipped to the next page, eyes scanning the notes he had made for himself. Truth is, Tsukishima was also perplexed by the kid's decision to transfer in at this time. He was awaiting for their teacher to enter and shoot down that rumour. That or introduce the new student.

The bell rang and the students hurriedly entered the class and sat down in their respective seats. None of them noticed the boy sitting at the corner of the classroom by himself, watching his new classmates.

The [h/c] male was the new student. The one almost everybody in his class was talking about today. Some people didn't believe the rumour, some did and were trying to guess the new student's gender while others wondered if he would need to take the exams too.

The class went silent when their teacher stepped in. [y/n] mentally prepared to introduce himself, hoping that all would go well.

"Alright class, I've noticed there's a rumour going around in school that there will be a new transfer student. We do indeed have one," the teacher said before gesturing at the corner of the class. The class' attention turned to the [h/c] male in surprise. Nobody had realised the new student was already in their class earlier. The ones who didn't believe the rumour were gaping at the boy.

"Please come out and introduce yourself."

[y/n] stood up with a sigh before standing in front of the class by his teacher side. The attention of twenty other students on him made him more nervous than he was before.

"Uhh... Hello, I'm [l/n] [y/n]. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," the students replied, clapping their hands to welcome [y/n].

"Alright class, quiet down. [y/n] please return to your seat. Your exam is about to start soon-"

[y/n] was glad he didn't have to face being bombarded with questions so early in the morning. The exam was quite easy to [y/n]. It was pure luck he did extra studying before transferring to this school. He didn't know that it was the exam season until yesterday. Talk about luck.

During lunch, [y/n] quickly ran out of the class before anyone could talk to him and found a secluded place to enjoy his bento. He really wasn't in the mood to talk to others.

After school, [y/n] dashed out as fast he could, escaping everyone who tried to talk to him. He was running passed the gymnasium when the familiar sound of ball hitting the ground and squeaking shoes stopped him.

Volleyball.

[y/n] hands suddenly itched at the thought of the sports he had been trying to avoid for the past few months. He was tempted to spike the ball, the feeling of excitement and proudness as the ball hit the opposite team's ground and his teammates yell of victory.

Volleyball. The sport that brought him joy and the sport that made him ran away from his teammates. He left Japan, ashamed that he had let that one single incident affect him deeply. He was ashamed that he had left his teammates without them knowing what happened. It affected the whole team. [y/n] did watched their tournaments and he had saw how no one spiked the ball Kageyama tossed.

But, it wouldn't hurt to play a little right?

Most of his former teammates were most likely in Aoba Johsai and [y/n] knew how Kageyama wanted to go to Shiratorizawa. He probably did, seeing how good he was as a setter. Nobody planned to come to Karasuno right? It wasn't even a powerhouse...

It wouldn't hurt right?

[y/n] found himself moving to the gymnasium's doors to push it open. His heart was pumping really fast in his chest to the point where he was afraid it would jump out of his chest. [y/n] raised his shaky hands to the doors and slowly pushed them open...

To find a familiar raven-headed male tossing to an orange-headed male. It was so fast that by the time [y/n] registered what happened, the ball was already bouncing off the other side of the court. [y/n] recognised that toss. It was Kageyama's 'King Toss'.

Wait... Kageyama...

"Tobio..."

Kageyama's head snapped towards the direction of the doorway, a look of surprise on his face.

"[y/n]..." he gasped.

The two stared at each other. [e/c] eyes meeting black ones in disbelief.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" A voice called out to [y/n], breaking the silence. [y/n]'s attention went to the guy who said that. From his demeanour, he could guess that he was the captain.

"Oh uhm... I was just checking out some stuff-" [y/n] replied sheepishly but was cut off by Kageyama.

"He's here to join the volleyball club!"

[y/n]'s jaw dropped. "Wait no-"

"Please accept him Daichi-san! He's the previous captain of the Kitagawa Daiichi male volleyball team and a volleyball prodigy!"

"The captain...?" Nishinoya trailed off, thinking hard. "Do you mean the Fallen Angel of Kitagawa Daiichi?"

Before [y/n] could say anything, Kageyama shouted, "Yes!"

"Damn... you were really good!" A bright smile overtook Nishinoya's face. "My junior high school, Chidoriyama played against yours before. You probably don't remember me, but I'm Nishinoya Yuu, the Libero of this team."

"Let the poor boy talk," Sugawara sighed before he smiled at [y/n]. "I'm Sugawara Koshi, vice captain and setter."

[y/n] laughed a little, rubbing the back of his head with his hand, "I'm [l/n] [y/n]."

"I'm Sawamura Daichi, captain," Daichi said, shaking [y/n]'s hand. "Are you interested in joining the team?"

"N-" [y/n] was about to decline when he saw the pleading look on Kageyama's friend. The carrot head beside him glanced between [y/n] and Kageyama curiously before his eyes widened.

"Hey [l/n]-san! You should join!" [y/n] gaped at Hinata's enthusiasm. "I'm Hinata Shoyo, middle blocker."

"Middle blocker...?" [y/n] said is disbelief, glancing up and down at Hinata. This boy is probably around 162cm and he was assigned to a position where height matters.

"Hey! Don't look down on me! I might be short but I can jump!" The boy said with a determined look in his eyes. The statement stirred something in [y/n]'s heart.

_"A tall tall wall looms in front of me. What's the view on the other side? What does it look like? The view from the top..."_

The cheers.

The shouts.

He isn't alone.

_"One more time!"_

_"Do you need a reason not to want to lose?"_

_"The view from the top... it's a view I could never see on my own."_

That's right...

_"But... if I'm not doing it alone... I just might be able to see it."_

Why did he play volleyball again?

The feeling of joy that he gets when he soars in the sky. The view at the top of the summit. Having teammates who cry with you when the game is lost and celebrate with you when the game is won.

"Why don't we play a 3v3 game first? Maybe you can decide if you want to join after that."

**To be continued...**


	4. Fallen Angel - 2

The 3v3 game was between Tsukishima, Sugawara and Tanaka VS Kageyama, Hinata and [y/n]. Before the game started, Kageyama had decided to talk to [y/n] and approached him after Daichi introduced [y/n] to others.

"Hey..." Kageyama greeted [y/n].

[y/n] turned around to face Kageyama with a small smile. "Hey Tobio, didn't expect to see you in Karasuno."

"It's... I failed the entrance exam..." The setter said, blushing in embarrassment.

The statement took [y/n] a while to process before he started laughing. "You look smart," [y/n] said in between breaths. "But you really are just an idiot."

"GAH!"

[y/n] could hear Hinata shout in fear behind them. He wiped a tear that managed to escape his eyes with a finger, taking in deep breaths to stop himself laughing as he waited for Kageyama's reaction.

The male had an aura of fury around him when he heard [y/n]'s reply. "B-Boke!"

"Kageyama, [l/n]..." Daichi's voice rang out from across the court. Both boys froze at the terrifying voice of Daichi. [y/n] shuddered, not even Kageyama was that scary.

Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were snickering behind their backs.

"Hey [l/n]," Hinata called out to the [h/c] male. "Which position did you play in back in Kitagawa Daiichi?"

"Wing Spiker."

"He was also the ace," Kageyama added.

"Ace..." Hinata's eyes seemed to sparkle. "That's so cool... I want to be Karasuno's ace too!"

"Well... good luck," [y/n] encouraged Hinata and gave him a thumbs up.

"Hey! The match is starting soon. Concentrate!"   
  
  


***  
  
  


A whistle was blown. The match has officially started.

Tanaka was serving first. [y/n] received Tanaka's ball, sending it up into the air and towards Kageyama.

"Left!" Hinata waved his arm in the air before running forwards. Tsukishima was already on the move, prepared to block Hinata's spike.

Kageyama sent [y/n] a look and [y/n] nodded, moving to stand somewhere near Hinata as Kageyama tossed to Hinata. [y/n]'s eyes widened when he realised Hinata's eyes were closed as he jumped up, spiking the ball across the court, barely missing Tsukishima's fingers. Earlier on, [y/n] hadn't took notice of Hinata when he spiked but now that he did, the fact that he had a 100% trust in Kageyama shocked [y/n].

No one else looks fazed so [y/n] assumed this was a daily occurrence.

It was [y/n]'s turn to serve. He bounced the ball a couple of times and took a deep breath. Taking a few steps back from the line, his eyes scanned the court, searching for the best place to serve the ball to.

He closed his eyes again when he heard the whistle blow, visioning how he was going to serve. Throwing the ball up in the air with his right hand, [y/n] ran forwards and jumped, his hand connecting with the ball and serving it to the place between Tanaka and Tsukishima. It happened so fast that with a blink of an eye, the ball had already hit the ground with a loud _smack._ Both of them glanced at each other with a shock look.

Most of the members were shocked, besides Kageyama, who was grinning like a madman.

"Woah!" Hinata shouted. "A service ace! Teach me how to do that [l/n]-san!"

"He really is an angel..."

The match continued. Kageyama never once toss to [y/n] during the match. No one got to see his spike. Instead, he stuck close to Hinata whenever he was spiking, making sure to receive if it was blocked and send the ball back to Kageyama for a second try.

Until...

14 - 10

Kageyama's team was in the lead by 4 points. Their team was obviously winning, unless the other team could make a comeback in time. But with [y/n] on the court, the idea of making a comeback doesn't sound possible at all. 

"Give me a toss!" [y/n] shouted, waving his hand in the air to get Kageyama's attention. Kageyama had a small smile on his face as he tossed the ball.

[y/n] jumped and for a moment, nobody could take their eyes away from the mesmerising boy. 

"He's flying..." 

[y/n] spiked the ball, with so much force that it bounced off from ground and flew high up into the ceiling before landing in Yamaguchi's arms. 

The crowd could only gape. 

"Nice kill [l/n]-san!" 

***

The game ended. 

25 - 22 

Their team won. 

"What do you think?" Daichi asked [y/n] after the practice for that day ended. 

"This team suck at receiving," [y/n] replied in a serious tone before gulping down water from his bottle. "Maybe besides Nishinoya-senpai," he added after a while. "His Rolling Thunder is cool."

The team sweat-dropped at [y/n]'s statement. 

"Okay, okay... I was kidding... not about the receives though-" 

Behind him, almost everyone could sense Nishinoya's mood dropped. 

"I think... I think I will like to join the team..." [y/n] said, staring at his shoes nervously. 

"Alright then," Daichi said happily and clapped his hands. "Kiyoko-san, is it here?" He turned to ask the manager. 

Kiyoko nodded, gesturing at the box sitting next to her. She opened it and took out a black jacket with 'Karasuno Male Volleyball Team' written on it. [y/n] took it from Kiyoko and mumbled a 'thank you'. 

"Come on! Put it on!" Tanaka cried excitedly behind him. 

[y/n] couldn't help but smile as he wore the jacket. 

"Welcome to the team [l/n] [y/n]!"

***

Daichi decided to treat them to pork buns today. 

Kageyama and Hinata were racing each other. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi walked by each other in silence. The second years were talking about their exams while the third years discussed about volleyball strategies. 

[y/n] felt like an outsider. 

This volleyball team was like a family, and [y/n] was the intruder. 

"Hey!" Tanaka greeted him, throwing an arm around his shoulder. [y/n] stumbled in surprise from the sudden action before greeting Tanaka. 

"Hey Tanaka-senpai..." 

Tanaka's eyes seemed to sparkle when [y/n] called him senpai. "Don't look so down!" The Wing Spiker exclaimed. 

Afterwards, Tanaka told him a few embarrassing stories that involved the volleyball team, even the one with the Vice Principle's wig falling onto Daichi's head. "Honestly, Daichi looked so dead inside at that moment." 

[y/n] was laughing really hard when he imagined how the scene looked like. "What happened to Hinata and Tobio then?" 

"Kicked out of the gymnasium and they stayed outside until practice ended, declared for a match against the seniors." Tanaka cackled. 

Daichi shot Tanaka a look when he realised what Tanaka was telling [y/n] about. 

They got pork buns, which [y/n] loves a lot. After that, each of them said goodbye to each other and walked back towards their house. 

[y/n] followed after Hinata and Kageyama, who were busy bickering with each other, witch [y/n] occasionally intervening to make sure it didn't go out of hand. They didn't stop until Hinata and Kageyama had to head towards different direction. 

They bid Hinata goodbye before both of them continued walking. 

It was silent for a while. None of them bothered each other as they continued down the road until they had to head to separate roads. 

[y/n] was about to greet Kageyama goodbye when the raven male started talking. 

"Hey... Where have you been for the past few months?" 

[y/n] opened his mouth to reply before closing it again, loss at words. He didn't know how to reply. [y/n] could have easily lied just like he did with others but none of the excuses could leave his mouth today. 

"I..." he trailed off, his smile dropped before he started sobbing. A tear fell first. [y/n] tried to stop the incoming river and failed. He was full out bailing like a little kid. 

"I'm sorry," Kageyama said, pulling [y/n] into a hug. "I just- damn it. You left so suddenly and we didn't know how to continue on."

"I'm sorry, Tobio..." [y/n] cried. He couldn't explain. He couldn't do anything besides continuing to cry in the middle of the night on the streets of Miyagi. 

They stood there for a while before Kageyama pulled away. 

"We... we will talk about this another day okay? For now, goodnight [y/n]." 

[y/n] watched as Kageyama walked away and only turned away when he was out of sight and started heading back to his house. 

Where was he in the past few months? 

Even [y/n] couldn't answer that question. 

**To be continued...**


	5. Fallen Angel - 3

_More than a year ago..._

"Shiratorizawa!"

"Shiratorizawa!"

"Good luck Nii-chan!" [y/n] shouted, waving his arms in the air.

His brother was warming up with his team. When he heard [y/n], he turned to the crowd, eyes searching for [y/n] until he found him standing near the front of the crowd. [b/n] waved his hand at [y/n] with a smile on his face.

"Is that your brother?" Tendou asked, creeping up beside [b/n]. "I've heard about him, an angel on court and a star player... [l/n] [y/-"

"Hey, we need to line up!" Someone shouted, cutting off Tendou.

Both [b/n] and Tendou started jogging to where their team was.

"So is your brother coming to Shiratorizawa?"

"Yes," [b/n] merely replied with a roll of his eyes. "He had always dream of joining a powerhouse school and play volleyball together with me. It would be a waste if he didn't come here, seeing his immense talent."

Up above the court sat [y/n], who was analysing both teams' members. [y/n] recognised a few of them from his brother, one of them being Ushijima Wakatoshi. According to [b/n], Ushijima is a really good player. Him being a left-handed spiker had usually thrown their opponents off for a while.

During the match, [y/n]'s eyes lingered on the Shiratorizawa team. He couldn't help but feel amazed by the team's strength.

Whenever someone scored, the school will cheer. [y/n] couldn't help but cheer even louder whenever his brother scored, with a big grin on his face.

"Nice kill [b/n]!" The crowd shouted when he scored another point for the team.

[b/n] is an amazing spiker as well, only second to Ushijima. He was most famous for his clean line shots and ability to direct the ball to where he wants it to be.

[y/n] admired his brother deeply.

He was really proud to be [b/n]'s younger brother.

Until an accident that took away [b/n]'s ability to play volleyball ever again.

A normal Friday evening after practice, when [b/n] was going to [y/n]'s school to pick him up. A drunken driver had been driving down the streets at full speed when [b/n] was crossing it.

[y/n] nearly lost a brother.

At least a brother by blood.

The brother [y/n] knew was gone, replaced with a host of jealousy and anger carrying [b/n]'s name.

So did [y/n]'s passion for volleyball disappear.

He couldn't look at a volleyball without bawling his eyes out for weeks until he felt numb. [y/n] didn't think he could ever play that sport again so he left the team by escaping practices and at the end of the year, [y/n] left Japan. He stayed in America for a few months, using the time away from his birthplace filled with painful memories to try and cure his depression.

Along with the death of [b/n], came the nickname 'Fallen Angel'.

Shiratorizawa extended a letter to [y/n], inviting the male to join their school. [y/n] declined. He couldn't go there, after what happened.

A few months of solitude gave [y/n] enough time to crawl his way out of the dark hole. He returned to Japan, a better version of himself than when he left. But no matter what he did, [y/n] could never return to how he was before the accident. He was still standing at the edge. A single misstep and [y/n] will fall back in.

[y/n] decided to go to Karasuno High School. His brother was still going to Shiratorizawa and [y/n] wanted to stay as far away as he could from [b/n]. Most of his former teammates were in Aoba Johsai and [y/n] had heard that Kageyama applied for Shiratorizawa.

But it seems like fate wants [y/n] to play volleyball again.

Meeting the Karasuno team and playing with them reminded [y/n] of the joy on court.

For the first time since the accident, [y/n] was able to smile again at the sight of a volleyball.

***

Maybe Karasuno could help [y/n]'s mental health improve. And step by step, he would be able to finally get away from the spiralling dark hole.

But, [y/n] really wasn't that concern with his own problems right now. He was more concerned with the freak duo sitting on the ground with their exam papers.

"How are we going to get to Tokyo? Should we run?"

"Nah we need bikes."

[y/n] wanted to facepalm.

According to Takeda-sensei, they were invited to a Tokyo Training Camp. But if anyone failed their exams, they would have to take the supplementary exams, which was coincidentally on the same weekend as the training camp.

[y/n] had no choice but to stay back, since he had to take the exam he missed. At first, [y/n] thought he was the only one who couldn't go but since the freak duo failed a paper each, they can't either.

"Well, don't be discourage. I can't go either," [y/n] sighed.

"Hey," Tanaka called out behind them. All of them turned to look at their senpai.

"You guys only failed one test right?" Tanaka asked them before turning to [y/n]. "And you only missed one test right?"

"If that's the case," he continued, "Then you should be able to finish your supplementary exam in the morning. After that, I'll call your saviour."

***

The saviour was Tanaka's sister, Saeko-nesan.

"Hey, failure boys!" Saeko greeted Kageyama and Hinata who were running out of the school. [y/n] was seen running out shortly and stopped by Hinata's side.

"Are you Tanaka's older sister?" Hinata asked.

"Call me Saeko-nesan," she smiled, turning to her truck. "I'll get you three to Tokyo in no time," she winked at them before gesturing for them to enter the truck.

[y/n] sat in the backseat together with Kageyama. Hinata decided to seat in front because according to him, he was the oldest.

"But the shortest," [y/n] couldn't help but mumbled the last part out to Kageyama, who burst out laughing.

The car ride started really wildly. [y/n] was basically praying for his life during the entire ride when Tanaka's words rang through his head.

"However, the safety and comfort of the ride absolutely cannot be guaranteed," [y/n] remembered him saying this before he bowed with a sorry look on his face.

During the ride, Kageyama was sleeping while Saeko started a conversation with Hinata. [y/n] didn't really pay attention to most of the conversation until Saeko asked Hinata a question.

"Why did you start playing volleyball, Shoyo?"

Hinata's eyes seemed to sparkle at that question. The question sparked interest from [y/n] too. He leaned closer to the both of them, wanting to know why Hinata started playing.

"When I was in grade school, I saw the spring tournament on TV! It was right when Karasuno was playing, and..."

"You saw the Little Giant."

"I saw the Little Giant."

Both Saeko and Hinata said at the same time.

Saeko then went on about the one time she saw the Little Giant during one of their practice matches.

"He's what you guys call an ace, right?" She asked, twisting the lollipop in her hands.

"The absolute pride and confidence of being the ace... You could see that rising from his body. Actually, I almost fell for that guy." She started laughing.

[y/n] glanced down at his own palms, remembering the time when he was the ace of Kitagawa Daiichi.

"So, when the ace is in action, everyone around him acts like they aren't gonna let him do the work."

[y/n] couldn't help but grit his teeth at those words before he slowly glanced to his side and found Kageyama awake.

"Saeko-nesan, you sure know a lot about the Little Giant," Kageyama commented.

"Eeek! Not really! I just happened to see one of his matches. You were awake huh?" She said, putting the lollipop in her mouth and turning back to the front.

"Well, I was hungry."

The rest of the car ride was silent. After that conversation, [y/n] could feel Kageyama constantly glancing at him.

Saeko's words couldn't help but stay imprinted in [y/n]'s head.

_The absolute pride and confidence of being the ace..._

[y/n] knew that himself too well.

***

They finally reached their destination.

Saeko led them to the gymnasium before she grabbed the metal handle and pulled the door open.

"Hey, they are still at it," Saeko said, getting others attention. "We totally made it, not bad at all."

Hinata and Kageyama walked out from behind Saeko, pushed the doors open and stood there, panting heavily.

"So, the stars are showing up fashionably late? How annoying," Kuroo said with a smirk. Others were staring at the duo with interest. Karasuno's members looked happy to see them here.

From behind the duo stepped out [y/n], who managed to push through them.

"Damn it, give me some space to pass through," [y/n] sighed.

"And there's a new member, how interesting..."

"Wait, I recognise him... Isn't that the Fallen Angel?"

"Fallen Angel? Wait, you don't mean the Angel of the Court right? The one from Kitagawa Daiichi Junior High."

"An all-rounded player huh... This is going to get interesting."

**To be continued...**


	6. Fallen Angel - 4

_"I can't-"_

_"Hey [y/n], it's okay to lose... Not everybody will win all the time."_

_"But... but I'm supposed to be able to save the ball! They put their trust in me!"_

_"[y/n]-"_

_"We could have won the match if I was more careful and-"_

_"[y/n]-"_

_"I... I... could-"_

_"[y/n]! Listen to me okay!"_

_"..."_

_"People make mistakes. You can't avoid them. After all, we are only human... Losing a match doesn't mean the end of the world. A volleyball team has six players, you're not alone. Nobody would blame you for not being able to save a ball!"_

_"I... I..."_

_"The only thing you can do is train harder! Believe in yourself and your team!"_

_"I'm sorry, Nii-chan..."_

_"[y/n], no one is invincible. No one is unbeatable. Every time you fall, you have to find a way to get back up. You've gotta do all you can to stay on the court, to keep playing volleyball!"_

_"..."_

_"Why do you play volleyball?"_

***

"Because I love the sport with my whole heart..."

"Nice serve, [l/n]!"

The exhilarating rush when the volleyball is in their hands. The excitement of the game when they play. Everyone on the court had trained hard to stay on the court.

[y/n] bounced the ball a few times and took a few steps backwards from the line. The whistle was blown, signalling for the game to commence. [y/n] took a deep breath to calm himself down before throwing the ball into the air. He ran forwards and jumped up, his hand connecting with the ball with immense strength, sending it to the other side of the court.

Someone tried to receive the ball but wasn't able to send it back up in the air. It hit his hands and flew out of the court instead.

"A service ace!"

His team cheered and congratulated him.

The game continued and Karasuno was in the lead for the first time today.

Hinata and Kageyama's freak quick was all successful today. Nobody had managed to block the ball yet. [y/n] was always there to save the ball and cover up the team's hole. Kageyama had been doing quite well too. His accuracy were all on point today. Overall, Karasuno was doing quite well.

Right now, their score was 21 -24 with Karasuno in the lead.

Kageyama did a jump serve. Shinzen High's #11 received the ball and sent it up in the air. Another one received and sent it to the setter who tossed it to Eikichi. Hinata jumped and managed to touch the ball a little before he bolted off to the other side of the court.

"Eikichi! Stop their #10!" The Captain shouted.

Eikichi bolted off after Hinata, who jumped, ready to spike. Kageyama tossed the ball to Hinata and Hinata spiked it across, hitting Eikichi's fingers. He hadn't been able to block the ball but [y/n] was surprise that he was fast enough to touch it a little. If they had played a little longer, he would probably have been able to block the freak duo's attack.

The game ended with Karasuno winning.

"What the hell is with their #9 and #10's quick attack?!"

Honestly, [y/n] didn't know either. Kageyama's accuracy was freakily scary, so was Hinata's ability to 100% trust Kageyama. With Hinata's athletic reflexes, he could very well be an amazing and terrifying player to play against if he continues to train hard.

Hinata and Kageyama were panting heavily with a serious look on their faces until Tanaka cut in.

"Don't act all cool, you tardy test flunkers."

As Shinzen High did their diving drills, Karasuno team walked to the side of the court to grab their bottles.

"So in our ninth set, we finally got a win. We finally don't have to do the diving drills," Daichi sighed in relief.

"I'm starving!" Nishinoya cried out.

[y/n] stood beside a quiet Hinata who looks like he was deep in thought. [y/n] didn't bother him and instead, decided to join Tanaka and Nishinoya and watch the last remaining match happening.

"Looks like it's Ubugawa High verses Nekoma over there," Tanaka commented. "Given the time, this might be the last game today."

Just then, a silver-headed male came into view. He jumped up high in the air and swung his hand down to spike the ball. His hand was like a whip when he swung it down, scoring a point for Nekoma. [y/n] couldn't help but gaped at the scene with his teammates.

"Wow..."

"That #11..." Sugawara started. "At first glance, it's hard to tell because he's slouching, but he's pretty big. He might be over 190cm."

"His arms and legs are so long..."

"Who the heck is he?"

[y/n] couldn't help but wonder the same.

***

Nekoma won the game against Ubugawa.

"Good job!" The teams shouted together, congratulating each other. They were then dismissed and allowed to eat dinner, take a shower and rest.

[y/n] decided to make use of this time to analyse the different teams he met today. He had arrived late, so he wasn't able to watch the other teams play much. But thanks to Kiyoko's help, he had a little more insight to the games Karasuno had played earlier.

During the dinner, Kageyama realised [y/n] got quieter. He didn't try to socialise with his own teammates or meet other teams' members. Being in the same team before, Kageyama knew what [y/n] was doing. Each time after a match, there will be a period of time where [y/n] stops talking. Instead, he would be analysing the teams they played against, thinking of ways to either overcome the problem if ever meet the same strategy again, or wondering how to implement that strategy into their own team's playing.

This was what made [y/n] a great captain.

Often during practices, [y/n] would make up simulations of the strategies he had spent days analysing. He would allow the team to ponder on ways to overcome it or use it. Then, he would share his own opinions and ideas.

Without [y/n], Kitagawa Daiichi wouldn't have been able to become what they were. And now that he was here in Karasuno, [y/n] could help them break free and fly again. Karasuno could very well have the chance to finally enter the Nationals.

***

[y/n] was leaning against the wall outside of the gymnasium when his phone rang. He glanced at the name on his screen, staring at it for a while before he finally accepted the incoming call.

_"Hey [y/n]."_

"Hey Mum," [y/n] replied.

_"How are you doing in the training camp?"_

"Perfectly fine..." [y/n] hesitated a little before he asked, "How was [b/n]'s appointment?"

_"It's... It went well. He will be able to walk soon with his new prosthetic legs."_

Walk soon. But both of them know very well that [b/n] still wouldn't be happy if he can't play volleyball.

_"Anyway, I've called to tell you that your father and I will be going on another business trip to Taiwan again. [b/n] will be going to grandma's house. It's up to you whether you want to join him or live alone in the house for about a week."_

It was obvious what [y/n] would choose. But he still couldn't help but hesitate a little when he was about to answer.

"I think I will just stay at home."

_"Alright then, please take care of yourself [y/n]. Remember, if anything happens, call us."_

"Yeah yeah Mum, this isn't the first time," [y/n] chuckled. "See you next week."

_"Love you."_

"Love you too."

[y/n] waited until his mother hanged up before he stuffed his phone into his pocket. He took in a deep breath and held his breath for a few seconds before exhaling to calm himself down.

Ever since [b/n]'s accident, his parents had been working harder than they did before to pay [b/n]'s medical bills. [y/n] rarely ever sees his parents anymore, nor had he really ever seen his brother either, not ever since the big fight they had after [b/n] woke up in the hospital.

Nothing had really been the same ever since.

[y/n] silently trudged back to the dorm room.

**To be continued...**


	7. Fallen Angel - 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you start reading this chapter, I just want to say thank you so much for taking your time to read Fallen Angel! Thank you for voting too! Enjoy!

It was a timeout during the match between Karasuno and Ubugawa.

"All right! Our opponents still aren't able to counter your weird quick attack so keep on using it!" Coach Ukai told Kageyama and Hinata.

[y/n] wiped the beads of sweat rolling down his forehead with the back of his hand until Yachi handed him a towel.

"Thanks, Yachi," the [h/c] male told the girl.

The team turned their attention to the ongoing match between Fukurodani and Nekoma. Fukurodani's ace, Bokuto Koutarou was doing as well as [y/n] expected. After all, he was one of the top five aces in the Miyagi Prefecture.

Nekoma managed to keep the ball in the air.

"Kenma! Cover!"

"Left! Give it to me!" The same silver-headed male [y/n] saw yesterday shouted to their setter. Kenma glanced backwards before tossing the ball to him.

He jumped and spiked the ball while everyone stared at him, gobsmacked. A slide hit...? [y/n] recognised that technique, his brother had shown him how to do it before. At the thought of his brother, [y/n] shook his head, trying to forget what he was thinking earlier before it could get to him.

"That was an unplanned slide hit?!" Kageyama said in surprise.

Hinata seemed like he remembered something. He kept staring at Lev, before murmuring something under his breath, "Center ace..."

[y/n] realised Hinata had been acting a bit different from how he was before. He wasn't sure what happened to him.

[y/n] sighed before turning his attention back to the other teams.

_In order to stay on the court, you have to win._

And in order to win, Karasuno must improve.

And [y/n] was here to make sure they do.

***

"Our first game is with Nekoma," Coach Ukai stated. "How did we do in yesterday's match?" He asked Kiyoko, who opened her book to check.

"This will be our third set overall with Nekoma. Yesterday, we played two sets with them. The scores were 17 - 25 and 19- 25, both our losses."

"Simply to put it," Coach Ukai started, "We haven't won any set against them. But if we calm down and go out there in full force, they should be our opponents we can fight on equal footing."

"Hinata and Kageyama, this is your first Nekoma set in a while, isn't it? Go show them what you've got."

"Right!" They shouted.

"And [y/n]," Coach Ukai turned to him. "I would like you to sit out this match."

"Ehh!" The team shouted in surprise. Taking [y/n] out is like taking away the winning card from the pile.

"There's some things that I would like to discuss with you."

The whistle was blow. The team left as the game was about to start. [y/n] sat down beside Coach Ukai, wondering what on Earth he wanted to discuss with him.

"I've heard that you analyse strategies and create simulations to help your team to practice." Behind them, the game started. [y/n] stared at Ukai, wondering how he found out.

"I've been thinking about implementing a few new strategies that I've gotten from the teams here," he continued before adding, "And I would like for you to help me out."

"Other teams' strategies, huh..." [y/n] trailed off, before turning his attention to Nekoma.

Ukai and [y/n] spent some time talking about the best strategies from other teams, like the synchronised attacks used by Shinzen High.

[y/n] used the rest of the time to analyse Nekoma High's strategies and plays. He couldn't help but watch Kuroo and Kenma more. Both of these players were good at what they do. Kenma was amazing at tricking his opponents and reading them while Kuroo was great at blocking. [y/n] noted them down before his eyes found its way to the new member.

Lev Haiba... wasn't a really good volleyball player. His serves and receives were terrible but [y/n] supposed that this was because he had only started playing. But his height gave him a big advantage. Plus his long arms and legs. If Lev perfected his receives and serves and becomes an all-rounded player, he will be a deadly opponent to fight against and a great teammate to have.

Lev had managed to block Hinata's spike, which shocked the team. [y/n] could feel Hinata's mood dropped afterwards.

"Two blockers!" Yaku shouted.

"Right!" Yamamoto said before jumping up to spike the ball.

Kageyama managed to receive the ball and sent it up into the air. Daichi ran over to the ball and sent it up into the air before saying, "Alright! Let's get the last ball!"

"Sorry! It's a bit short!"

"Asahi!"

"Last ball!"

"Yeah!" Asahi cried out before he jumped up, ready to spike the ball-

When Hinata appeared next to him, jumping up together, getting ready to spike the ball too.

[y/n] noted how Hinata hadn't seen Asahi and his eyes were still only concentrated on the ball.

None of them managed to spike the ball. They bumped into each other before falling onto the ground. Asahi landed on his feet but Hinata fell on his back hardly. Both of them stared at each other in shock as the ball fell onto the ground and bounced out of the court.

"U-u-uhhhhh... Wh-wh-wh-"

"I'm sorry!" Hinata shouted, sitting up immediately. "I was just staring at the ball... I'm sorry! Are you okay? I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"I-I'm perfectly fine," Asahi said, trying to reassure Hinata.

"Pay attention to your surrounding, you idiot!" Coach Ukai shouted at Hinata. "Why do you think everyone's calling the ball, you dumbass?!"

"Moron! Hinata, you moron!"

"Guys, calm down," [y/n] said, waving his arms to get their attention.

After a while, the team finally calmed down. Hinata walked to Kageyama with a determine look in his eyes, getting the whole team's attention.

"Hey Kageyama," Hinata called out.

"What?"

"The quick that goes like _whoosh_... I'll... stop closing my eyes."

Everyone stared at him in shock, everyone except for [y/n], who was staring at him with a small smile.

_'So this was why Hinata was acting weird recently.'_

"Huh?"

Hinata tensed at the scary look Kageyama was giving him.

"I can't stay like this," Hinata declared. "I can't just keep hitting quicks that are set just for me."

"You can't, and that's why we learnt normal quicks," Kageyama cut Hinata off. "I don't know what's going on with you right now, but if you have something to say, I'll listen to it later."

"But if you're gonna do it now," Kageyama continued, turning away from Hinata. "I'm not going to set to a guy who I know will miss."

The game continued but the court still had that intense feel from just now. [y/n] could sense their mood had dropped a little.

The set ended with Nekoma winning again. Karasuno had to do the diving drills again.

"It appears there's a chance in your players' wills." Nekomata-sensei said, walking up to Coach Ukai. [y/n] stared at him as he walked away.

"You guys are the weakest team out of all the teams here," Takeda-sensei said. [y/n] turned his attention back to his teammates who had gathered around. [y/n] was surprised by the directness of Takeda-sensei's words.

"If we were to have an official match with any of these teams, they would be a troublesome opponent. Are we going to view them as mere opponents, or teachers that we can absorb technique from?" He continued. "The fact that you're weak just means that you have room to grow. There's nothing more exciting than that."

The team look surprised and motivated by his words.

"Thank you!"

[y/n] saw Kageyama, Sugawara and Hinata heading out. He decided to follow. He peeped out of the door along with Ukai and they managed to catch what Hinata was saying just in time.

"Before I knew it, we lost the last set with Seijoh. When I realised it, the ball that was hit was behind me and on the floor." [y/n] hadn't been there with them in the last tournament they had, but from what Hinata was saying, he knew that it had impacted them a lot. "I'm the one who lost, so I don't want you to apologise, Kageyama."

"I want to fight in mid-air until the very last moment." Hinata said, louder this time.

It was silent for a while until Kageyama said, "I sort of realised, at the Seijoh match that it was the setter who bring out 100% percent of the spiker's strength. That quick is your ultimate weapon. Any slight slippage in that quick becomes a fatal mistake."

"Your will is not needed for that quick." He continued before turning around to walk back into the gymnasium.

[y/n] hurriedly walked away from the scene when Kageyama walked back into the gymnasium. He knew what Kageyama said was a little harsh, but he was stating the truth.

[y/n] couldn't help but sigh.

In the next match, [y/n] joined the game. Hinata and Tanaka switched. This change had surprised everybody.

"Despite what you think you want to accomplish, you need to chill out today," Ukai told Hinata. "I don't think it's going to work to try things out today, and I'm not gonna have you end up in a contact play like that ever again and get hurt."

For the rest of the day, Hinata spent his time as a bench warmer.

***

The weekend training camp ended and it was time for them to return back to their school. Everyone said goodbye to each other. [y/n] stood outside, staring at the transmission tower. He obviously knew it wasn't the Tokyo Tower. [y/n] had been to seen it before.

[y/n], Kageyama and Hinata thanked Saeko for bringing them here before [y/n] followed Hinata to enter their bus when Lev appeared in front of them.

"See ya later, Hinata," he said, bending down to be eye level with carrot head. "I'll stop you next time too."

"I'm not gonna lose!" Hinata said back excitedly. "I may be 163cm, but I'll beat your 194cm butt!"

Lev chuckled before walking off. [y/n] watched the boy leave before he followed Hinata into the bus. [y/n] didn't exactly have anyone to say goodbye to. He hadn't really talked to anybody during the training camp besides his own teammates.

A few people stood at the doorway, waving at them as they drove off.

In the bus, [y/n] sat by himself. He knew there weren't anyone back at home since his parents and brother had left Miyagi. [y/n] was used to spending days alone in the house but for the first time, he couldn't help but feel a little lonely.

_'I wonder what's change?'_

Suddenly, his phone rang. [y/n] glanced at the screen, furrowing his eyebrows when he saw an unknown number had texted him.

**[unknown number]  
** _Hi. Is this [l/n] [b/n]'s brother?_

[y/n] couldn't help but tense up when he saw his brother's name. He took in a deep breath and exhale, calming himself down. He didn't know whether to reply or not. For or he know, it could be someone dangerous. After hesitating a little, [y/n] decided to reply to see who it was first.

**[y/n]** _Yes. Who's asking?_

**[unknown number]**   
_I'm Ushijima Wakatoshi... And I need to talk to you, about your brother._

**To be continued...**


	8. Fallen Angel - 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter contains slight mentions of self harm and suicide. Please proceed with caution.

"Damn you Ushijima," [y/n] sighed as he unlocked his door.

After arriving back in Miyagi, [y/n] had quickly rushed back to his house, apologising to his teammates through the phone as he bolted down the streets.

[y/n] was glad Ushijima wasn't here yet. He locked the door behind him and decided to take a shower first to rinse off the dirt and sweat he had accumulated along the way. [y/n] showered hastily, his brain wondering what on Earth was so important that Ushijima had to tell him today.

After he was done, he decided to make himself a sandwich as a light dinner, while glancing at the door constantly. Just as he had taken his first bite, the bell rang.

[y/n] groaned and dropped his sandwich back onto the plate before he stood up and dragged himself to the door. He swung the door open, glaring at the olive-headed male who stood in front of him.

"You just have to ruin my perfect day," [y/n] sighed grumpily before stepping aside for Ushijima to enter.

"I apologise for the inconvenience I had caused you, but this is really important. Also, I brought a friend," he said, entering the house. Behind, a silver-headed male trailed after him.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Semi Eita," the male said.

[y/n] gestured for them to sit at the dining table before he turned to close the door. When his face was out of their sight, he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, wondering how the two of them still managed to keep a poker face during their proclaimed 'important and urgent' meeting.

"How did you even get my phone number?" [y/n] asked Ushijima as he plopped down onto his own chair. He grabbed his own sandwich and stuffed the rest into his mouth.

"Oikawa Tooru," Ushijima merely replied.

[y/n] tensed at the name of the senpai he hadn't seen for two years. "That Oikawa from Aobajohsai? He has my number?"

Semi opened the backpack he was carrying before dropping a pile of books and papers onto the table. "Your brother's homework. He hasn't been attending school for some time. Is he away or something?"

"Hasn't been attending school?" [y/n] repeated what Semi told him, confusion laced in his tone. "[b/n] left this weekend to Tokyo to stay with our grandma. He should've been attending school for the..." he glanced at the amount of homework before continuing, "... past few days?"

"Two weeks. Your brother has been absent from school for two weeks," Ushijima stated.

[y/n] stared at Ushijima in surprise. "That's not true! Right? If he's been absent without a reason, then wouldn't my mum be informed? But she wasn't. Besides, you've come all the way here to just tell me this? You could have just simply texted me and handed me his homework the next day." He finished with a look of disbelief on his face.

Ushijima and Semi shared a glance.

"Why don't you ask him yourself either? You guys have his number right?" [y/n] huffed.

"We are asking you because [b/n]'s been avoiding us ever since that accident. He doesn't reply to our texts too. You live with him, so we thought you might know something," Semi said.

"Besides that, there's another thing I would like to ask you about. Is your brother suicidal?" Ushijima asked.

Awkward silence.

It was the best way to describe the current situation the three were in.

"You didn't have to be so blunt," Semi sighed beside Ushijima, facepalming himself.

"Suicidal..." [y/n] trailed off, trying to comprehend what Ushijima had said. "I... I don't think I'm the best person for you to ask..."

"Why not? You're his brother, aren't you?"

[y/n] hesitated, glancing at Semi and Ushijima. "We... had a fight a few months ago. Ever since then, I hadn't seen him much nor talked to him."

"We've caught a few glimpses of your brother in the school bathroom. He was in front if the mirror and it looked like he had just finished crying..." Semi sighed. "He had these bandages that covered his arms and he always make sure to wear long sleeve clothings. Plus he has that empty look in his eyes... I... just don't know how else to describe it. Your brother just looks like he had been through hell."

"A-are you sure?" [y/n] asked Semi shakily. He gripped his forearm tightly as he processed the shocking information the two Shiratorizawa students had dumped on him.

"I'm not a 100% sure that your brother is self-harming... but from the looks of it, I thought you should know... just in case..."

[y/n] took in a deep breath to calm himself before exhaling. He glanced at the two males in front of him and nodded his head. "Thanks, I will... contact my mum about this."

"Sorry about this," Semi apologised with a sorry look on his face.

"Nah, it's okay. I'm glad you decided to tell me."

_'Just in case.'_

The three if them got up simultaneously. "I think we have to take our leave," Semi said, glancing at the clock on the wall.

[y/n] opened the door and stepped aside, allowing the two people to head out. He mumbled a 'goodbye' at the two and started to shut the door when Ushijima stopped him.

"I'm also curious about something else..." he stated. [y/n] stopped in his track and glanced up at him, waiting for his question.

"Why didn't you come to Shiratorizawa? According to your brother, you've been interested to join the school. You are a talented player. We could have helped you hone your skills to be even better."

[y/n] stared at him for a while before replying, "I... I didn't plan on playing volleyball again after the accident. I just can't step foot into Shiratorizawa again without thinking about my brother."

"The fight between the both of you... How bad was it?" For the first time, Ushijima's poker face disappeared slightly. [y/n] could see the confusion and worry etched on his face.

"Let's just say, I don't ever want to talk about it."

Ushijima nodded before taking a step back. "Sorry for intruding. Goodnight."

[y/n] watched as they left the compound before he shut the door. [y/n] gave himself three seconds.

_'Three.'_

_'Two.'_

_'One.'_

He leaned against the door and slowly sat down, tears leaking from his eyes. His vision went blurry as he sat there, sobbing for what seemed like an hour.

_"Nii-chan?" A younger [y/n] called out as he entered the hospital room his brother was in. He gulped, not liking the atmosphere. But he was here for his brother, so he took in a deep breath to calm himself down and entered the room._

_No answer._

_But [y/n] could clearly see that [b/n] was awake. He was sitting on the bed, with an unreadable expression on his face._

_[y/n] flinched when he saw the state he was in. [b/n] was wrapped up in bandages... but that wasn't the worst part. His brother turned his attention to [y/n] before removing the blanket and pushed it away from him. It revealed his legs, or what was left of his legs, wrapped up in bandages stained with blood._

_His legs were chopped off to prevent further infection. What was left were his two stumps as a reminder for the rest of his life._

_"I-" [b/n] whispered. "I can't play volleyball anymore."_

_Watching [b/n] in pain made [y/n] cried. He went to his brother with a hand over his mouth and tears falling down from his cheeks._

_"Nii-chan..." he trailed off. "It's okay..."_

_"NOTHING IS OKAY!" [b/n] hollered suddenly, scaring [y/n]. Outside, he could hear people rushing to the room to stop whatever commotion was happening inside before it could get worse._

_The heart monitor beside [b/n] started beeping faster and faster as he stared at [y/n]. His unreadable expression turned into rage the longer he stared at him._

_"You-"_

_"Sir, please calm down," a woman said sternly as she entered the room._

_"Nothing will ever be the same again! I can't walk... but you!" [b/n] gritted his teeth and clenched his fist._

_"I hate you."_

_That day, [y/n] felt his heart breaking for the first time. It wasn't [b/n]'s first time telling [y/n] that he hated him. But it was the first time he said it sincerely. Before, they had always said that as a joke but now, now. [b/n] really meant it._

_"Don't say that..." [y/n] said, staring at his brother. [e/c] eyes met [e/c] eyes as both of them stared at each other, ignoring the nurse who was trying to get [b/n] to calm down._

_"Sir, I think you need to leave," the nurse told [y/n]._

_[y/n] glanced at the nurse before he glanced at his brother. He choked out a sob before dashing out of the room._

_He ran past the patients, the doctors, the nurses... He kept running, and running... until he was out of the hospital._

_"I hate you." His brother's words rang through his head._

_[y/n] punched the wall, ignoring the people who screamed and tried to hold him back from continuing to hurt himself._

_"I hate you too!" He shouted._

_And for the first time, [y/n] really meant it too._   
  
  


**To be continued...**


	9. Fallen Angel - 7

[y/n] lay on his bed, staring at the bare ceiling above him. It was early in the morning and school was about to start. [y/n] barely got any sleep yesterday night, getting plunged into terrifying nightmares every time he closed his eyes. 

After a few minutes, his phone rang, signalling for him to get up and prepare to go to school. [y/n] yawned and reached for his phone, patting the table a few times with his palm as he searched for his phone. When he finally felt the familiar screen underneath his hand, he grabbed it and slowly sat up. 

**[mum]  
** _Hey, is everything at home going okay?_

Oh wait. 

He had forgotten to message his mum about his brother's situation. [y/n] sighed and slowly pushed himself off the bed, wondering how on Earth is he going to tell his mum. 

_'Hey, your eldest son might have been self-harming. Please take notice and talk to him. Love, [y/n].'_

Or. 

_'[b/n] might have been self-harming according to his friends. Love, [y/n].'_

"Shit," [y/n] murmured under his breath. Both were equally bad.

He placed his phone back onto the side table and entered the toilet. He grabbed his toothbrush and squeezed some toothpaste onto it. While brushing his teeth, he couldn't help but glanced at the mirror... before edging closer to it to get a good look at his face. 

Dark eye-bags complimented with puffy red eyes. Not recommended. [y/n] didn't want his classmates to see him in this state. He gripped the sink as he thought of ways to make himself look better as to not worry anyone. 

Oh, his mother's makeup set. [y/n] hoped that she has extra concealer inside her drawers as he trudged into her room. He opened the drawer where she kept her makeup, rummaging through the boxes until he finally found the concealer. 

"Great, now... how do I apply this...?" he sighed out loud. [y/n] used his phone to search up a tutorial. 

A few minutes later, [y/n] looked much better. He made himself some toast and munched on it while scrolling through his text messages. 

**[y/n]** _Hey Mum, everything's okay. I didn't break anything._

His finger hovered over the board, wondering how he should frame the next sentence. In the end, he still couldn't get anything out. [y/n] mentally slapped himself in disappointment before he clicked into the Karasuno's volleyball team group chat. 

The texts were pretty much Daichi announcing some practice schedule while Tanaka and Nishinoya spammed a lot. [y/n] continued scrolling until he came across a message that made him stopped. 

**[tanaka-senpai]**   
_Are you guys okay? Sorry about yesterday. @Kageyama @Hinata_

**[daichi-san]**   
_Wait... what happened?_

**[tanaka-senpai]**   
_They fought yesterday. I had to punch them both in the face to get them to stop._

Afterwards, the messages consisted of the team members asking what happened. Hinata and Kageyama never replied Tanaka and Tanaka never told anyone in the group chat what happened. [y/n] assumed he told others privately so he decided to text Tanaka. 

**[y/n]**   
_Hey, Tanaka-senpai. What exactly happened yesterday?_

**[tanaka-senpai]**   
_Oh [l/n], I'm not exactly sure myself. But Kageyama and Hinata fought a lot before. I just hope this can be resolve quickly._

**[y/n]**   
_Thanks Tanaka-senpai!_

[y/n] sighed, hoping whatever Tanaka said was true. The next tournament was coming soon, and if they don't quickly resolve their own problems, the team might not do so well without their freak duo. 

***

A day passed. 

They didn't have any practice yesterday, so [y/n] had spent some time thinking about strategies. 

[y/n] hadn't told his mum about [b/n]'s situation either. Every time he wanted to text his mum, his fingers merely hovered over the board and his mind went blank. 

[y/n] thought about asking Ushijima for help but decided against it every time he was about to text him. He barely knew this guy after all, talking about something so personal just felt... weird. 

As [y/n] was walking to the gymnasium, he came across Hinata. 

"Hey," he greeted the boy, noticing the bandage on his face. But he decided not to ask about. Tanaka had told him that he punched Hinata to stop the fight so he assumed that wound was probably from that. Hinata greeted him back enthusiastically and both of them started heading to the gymnasium together. 

[y/n] saw Tanaka walking in front of them and was about to greet him when Hinata beat him to it. 

"Tanaka-san!" Hinata shouted. 

"Oh?" Tanaka said in surprise, turning around to face Hinata. 

"I-I'm sorry about the other day!" Hinata said, bowing down. 

[y/n] assumed it was about the fight. 

"No problem!" Tanaka grinned at the boy. "Kageyama just came by too. I'm sorry for hitting you guys." 

"I got too worked up trying to stop you guys from fighting." 

"Your punch really worked, Tanaka-san." 

[y/n] sighed and walked into the gymnasium. 

Soon, the team gathered around. 

"Alright, let's get this started," Coach Ukai called out. "Make sure you stay hydrated!"

"Right!" 

[y/n] glanced at Hinata and Kageyama. He was slightly worried when he saw them passed by each other. He could feel the tension in the air, suffocating him slightly. 

They played a practice match. [y/n] used this time to analyse his teammates' abilities, especially those who hardly played during the matches they had in the past. 

For the next few days, Karasuno trained harder than they did before. Each player decided to practice a new skill, like Asahi and his jump serves and Nishinoya with his sets. 

[y/n] helped Asahi with his serves, teaching him the right technique and correcting his moves. Pretty soon, Asahi managed to get the ball over the net- 

When Nishinoya jumped in to receive before the ball could hit the ground. 

"Nice receive!" [y/n] shouted. 

"Asahi-san! [l/n]!" He shouted with a big grin on his face. 

"Mind if I join you guys?" 

"Oh yeah, sure." 

"Would you mind hitting some of my tosses?" Nishinoya asked, pointing at himself. 

"Yeah sure- Uh wait, what?" Asahi gasped in disbelief. [y/n] stared at Nishinoya in shock too. 

"You're going to toss?" 

"Uh huh. I will help you with some of your serves too, Asahi-san!"

"Sure, let's do this." 

"Can you teach me how to set?" Nishinoya asked [y/n] sheepishly. 

"Alright!" 

The team trained hard. In the other gymnasium that Daichi had managed to borrow from the girl's volleyball team, Kageyama was training his tosses with Yachi's help. Ennoshita, Daichi, Sugawara and Tanaka were watching the synchronised attack together, learning the new strategy to implement into their plays. Hinata was with Karasuno's ex-coach, training his spikes while Yamaguchi went over to Shimada-san's place to practice his jump float serves. 

Over the course of the next few days, Coach Ukai taught the team the three tempos. The team listened attentively, absorbing the new information presented to them. 

They continued to practice and practice until they've gotten better. Asahi was able to hit strong spikes consistently and Nishinoya was finally able to set. Yamaguchi could perform a jump float serve properly. Kageyama was getting better at the new type of set he was trying to accomplish. Hinata was better at mid-air battles. The rest of the team were improving greatly. 

[y/n] himself continued to hone the skills he has. The same passionate feeling he had before was slowly coming back to him the longer he was together with Karasuno. 

"Now that its summer vacation, we can practice from morning to night." Takeda-sensei announced. "And starting tomorrow, we'll resume the Tokyo away games. This time, we will be there for a solid week!" 

"This is the first and last long-term training camp before the spring tournament prelims. Let's make the most of this opportunity, so we have no regrets entering the spring tournament prelims!" 

***

That night, [y/n] walked home together with Kageyama as usual. They stopped at the intersection, both prepared to head different directions when [y/n] stopped him. 

"Hey, Tobio." 

Kageyama turned around, slightly surprised. 

"I... I've gotta thank you for being so persistent about me joining the volleyball team," [y/n] smiled. "If you hadn't done that, I would have probably walked out of the gymnasium, and I might never play volleyball again." 

The side of Kageyama's lips turned up a little at [y/n]'s words. 

"I wouldn't be able to experience the joy of being on court ever again without your help," [y/n] continued. 

It was silent for a while. [y/n] was prepared to leave when Kageyama's voice stopped him.

"You... Why did you leave?" He hesitated a little before asking. 

The smile on [y/n]'s face dropped at this question. He sighed, staring down at his shoes. "Something happened. I... I just couldn't play volleyball again without breaking down during those few months." 

"It's okay," Kageyama said, surprising [y/n]. "If you're not comfortable to tell me, then don't. Just remember, I'm here if you need someone to talk to." 

[y/n] slowly smiled. "Alright then, Tobio. I promise I will tell you soon. I'm..." He sighed, "I'm just not ready yet, but I will tell you some day! You have the right to know the truth." 

"Goodnight, [y/n]." 

"Goodnight, Tobio." 

[y/n] left in a better mood that day. Better than usual in fact. 

"Tobio... thank you..." 

**To be continued...**


	10. Fallen Angel - 8

Karasuno gathered up in front of the school gates, getting ready to enter the bus that was going to bring them to Tokyo. 

"Oh man! Oh man!" Hinata exclaimed excitedly. "Taking off in the middle of the night is pretty exciting!" 

[y/n] honestly didn't know how Hinata was still so energetic at night. He mentally groaned, not ready to deal with a loud Hinata at this time of the day. 

"Well, you guys were late last time," Tanaka said, arms crossed together with a smile on his face. 

"Being an idiot must be nice," Tsukishima said with a bored look beside [y/n]. "You can even sleep on the bus." 

"What'd you say?!" Tanaka and Hinata turned to glare at Tsukishima angrily. 

[y/n] phone rang, signalling to him that he had an incoming message. He pulled his phone out from his pocket, his eyes squinting a little to read the words on the bright screen glaring back at him. 

**[mum]**   
_Enjoy your trip, honey! We are already back at home, it's amazingly still intact._

**[y/n]**   
_Do you really have such low expectations when it comes to me?_

His fingers hovered over the board after the message was sent. [y/n] bit his lip, wondering if he should tell his parents about [b/n]'s situation... 

For the past week, [y/n] didn't managed to do so. Every time he wanted to tell his mum, all he could think of was nothing. His fingers wouldn't type out anything he had heard from Ushijima. 

**[mum]**   
_Yes. I was expecting to return to a burnt kitchen but I guess you've managed._

**[y/n]**   
_I'm turning 16 . I can handle myself._

[y/n] shut his phone. Maybe he would do it later, he didn't want to ruin his mother's good mood when she had just arrived back home. 

"Hey!" Takeda-sensei said loudly, getting everyone's attention. "We'll be arriving at out destination early in the morning once again. Ukai-kun and I'll take turns driving."

"Sorry if I nod off," Ukai added. 

"Thank you!" Daichi bowed and shouted. The rest of the team followed his actions. 

Takeda jumped in surprise. "It's the middle of the night, so not so loud." 

"Oh sorry..." Daichi apologised, standing up straight. "Habit." 

"Do you guys have everything? Make sure you double check..." 

[y/n] double checked his backpack, making sure he had all the things. He wasn't one to forget stuff so easily so he wasn't so worried. 

_'I wonder how Hinata and Kageyama are doing...'_ He thought, glancing at the two as they entered the bus. [y/n] noted how they hadn't been talking to each other ever since the fight. 

In the bus, [y/n] sat beside Kageyama. They didn't talk much since Kageyama looked like he was thinking about something deeply. Afterwards, they drift off into a deep slumber. 

***

"WAKE UP!" Someone hollered at them. 

[y/n] jumped in seat, his eyes shooting open to find Nishinoya in front of him. Kageyama was grumbling beside him. [y/n] yawned and rubbed his eyes, staying in his seat for a while until he was fully awake before he grabbed his backpack and walked out of the bus. 

"Hey! Hey! Where's the Skytree?" [y/n] heard Hinata's shout. 

"Skytree...?" Kenma trailed off in confusion. 

"Oh! Is that the Tokyo Tower?!" the hyperactive orange-headed male shouted, pointing at the red and white transmission tower.

"Huh?" Kenma started in disbelief. "That's... just a normal transmission tower." 

[y/n] facepalmed. He was pretty sure Hinata had asked the same question the last time he was here. 

"Are there no transmission towers in Miyagi?" Kuroo asked with his usual smirk on his face. "I'm pretty sure I've heard this conversation before." 

"The transmission towers in Tokyo all look like the Tokyo Tower to us countryfolk!" Daichi said. 

"That's a rash thing to say," Sugawara sighed, turning to look at Daichi. 

"Speak for yourself," [y/n] said from behind them. "I'm pretty sure some of us countryfolk can differentiate between the Tokyo Tower and a normal transmission tower." 

"Only because you've seen it before," Kageyama mumbled beside him. 

A loud _smack_ was heard as [y/n] hit the back of Kageyama's head. A shout followed after. 

***

After a lovely reunion between the teams, it was time for training to start. 

"All right!" Ukai shouted. "We're gonna switch out members constantly this time around, so be prepared." 

[y/n] glanced at the bench warmers, Narita, Ennoshita, Kinoshita, Sugawara and Yamaguchi. They hadn't had many chances to play before. [y/n] couldn't help but glanced at Tanaka as well. Ever since he joined, Tanaka, one of the original starting players was constantly switched out with [y/n]. In the end, [y/n] got to play more than him. 

[y/n] felt a little guilty. 

"Right!" The team replied. 

The first game they had was between Karasuno and Fukurodani. 

The whistle was blown and the game started with the opposite team serving first. 

Nishinoya received it and sent it to Kageyama. 

"Nice receive!" 

[y/n] could see how Kageyama was struggling a little as he prepared to toss to Hinata. He moved forwards a little, preparing to save the ball in case it fails. 

"The weird quick is coming!" Bokuto told his teammates as they got ready to block. 

"Just drop it... just drop it... just drop it... off!" [y/n] could hear Kageyama mumbling to himself. At the same time, he tossed the ball to Hinata who had already jumped- 

Only for it to be too short. 

[y/n] dived and managed to receive the ball in time before it hit the ground, sending up into the air. 

"Nice receive!" Daichi shouted, managing to regain himself. He sent the ball to Kageyama again to let him toss. 

Kageyama tossed to Asahi, which was luckily successful. Asahi spiked the ball hard, sending it to the opposite side of the court. The Libero tried to receive it, however, the spike was too strong. It hit his arms and flew out of the court. 

"Nice kill, Asahi-san!" [y/n] grinned at the Ace. 

"What was that?" [y/n] turned to Kageyama and asked. 

"I'm sorry," he sighed, blushing in embarrassment. 

[y/n] was serving this time. 

"Nice serve!" The team shouted. 

[y/n] closed his eyes, envisioning how he was going to serve as he heard the whistle go off. He inhaled a deep breath before exhaling and opened his eyes, his eyes scanning his opponents sharply like a hawk. Fukurodani couldn't help but shiver a little under the Fallen Angel's stare. 

[y/n] threw the ball up in to the air and ran forwards before jumping. His swing his right arm, his palm connecting with the ball harshly, sending it flying the the opponent's side of the court. Their Libero managed to receive the ball, though the immense force [y/n] used when he served was so powerful that he fell backwards. 

Fukurodani lost their chance to attack as the ball flew over the Karasuno's side instead. 

"Chance ball!" Daichi shouted as he received it, sending it to Kageyama. 

Kageyama tossed to Hinata again. He didn't look as nervous as before which made [y/n] glad. However, the toss was too far. [y/n] was too far away to be able to save the ball in time. 

The ball started falling as Hinata turned to it. Suddenly, his left hand shot out, managing to save the ball and sent it over the net. It left the whole court in surprise as the ball hit the net and dropped to the other side of the court. 

The whistle was blown, signalling that they got this point. 

"Nice Hinata!" 

"Nice Shoyo!" 

[y/n] smirked, slowly getting into the mood as the game continued on. 

9 - 5 in Fukurodani's favor. 

It was Asahi's turn to serve. 

"Nice serve, Asahi," [y/n] cried out, giving him a thumbs up. 

Asahi threw the ball into the air and ran forwards before hitting it and sending it to the opposite side of the court. 

"Out! Out!" Fukurodani's #11 shouted, standing aside to watch as the ball hit the outside of the court. 

"That's fine! Keep it going!" Coach Ukai shouted from the side. 

The day continued... with Karasuno perfectly not in synch at all. Even with [y/n]'s amazing skills at saving the ball in tough times, he wasn't a superhuman, he can't save every ball. 

[y/n] was switched out with Tanaka and Kageyama was switched out with Sugawara so that they can attempt the synchronised attack... 

Which failed miserably as well. 

Though [y/n] did spot a few surprised Shinzen students. 

At one point, Sugawara received the ball first so he couldn't toss. Nishinoya took this as a chance to do a Libero set like he had been practicing. 

He jumped from the back zone and got ready to toss, surprising the onlookers. However, he jumped too far. Nishinoya landed on the ground, blushing in embarrassment as the ball landed next to him. 

"Hey, what's up with these guys today?" Bokuto said, staring at Nishinoya. "Are you okay?" 

The game ended with Fukurodani winning, which was no surprise. 

The team stood outside the gymnasium as Daichi announced the penalty. 

"The penalty this time is Shinzen's 'refreshing sprint up the grassy hill' apparently." 

The team sighed as they lined up into a straight line. Daichi clapped his hand to signal them to start. 

"Ready... go." 

'Hwah!" Some of the shouted as they started running up. [y/n] ran beside Hinata. 

The team was panting heavily by the time they were done. Yachi and Kiyoko walked around, handing them their bottles. 

"This, definitely will not be the last time we have to run up the hill, judging from how bad we are now," [y/n] sighed, collapsing on the grass. 

"At least have some faith..." Sugawara sighed, smiling a little. 

Luck wasn't on their side. 

"We amazingly lost all our games today." Daichi said. Sugawara, Daichi, Asahi, Tanaka and [y/n] were laying on the ground, panting heavily. "It's actually sort of refreshing." 

"I haven't done this many sprints since Coach Ukai was coaching." 

The sky was already dark and the moon was present. [y/n] lay on the ground, enjoying the cool breeze and the beautiful view above him. There weren't much stars present, but the dark sky was relaxing to look at. 

Daichi suddenly sat up. "I'm gonna borrow the tablet from Ukai-san so we can review the synchronised attack video." 

"Alright!" 

"Sure thing!" 

The rest sat up. 

"I'm gonna hit some serves," Asahi announced. 

[y/n] stood up, brushing the dirt off his pants. He didn't to do now that it was free practice time. He didn't have any new skill he was trying to polish unlike the rest of the team. 

[y/n] was walking when he spotted Tsukishima declining to the offer to practice with Kuroo and Bokuto. 

"There's no point to practice any spikes without a blocker," Bokuto said. 

"Come on!" Kuroo added, urging Tsukishima to come practice with them. 

"Why must it be me? Why can't it be someone from Fukurodani?" 

"There's no limit to Bokuto-san's spiking practice, so everyone runs away pretty quickly," Akaashi said, appearing at the doorway from behind Bokuto. 

"It might not look like it," Kuroo said. "but this guy is one of the top five spikers in the country, so it'll be great practice." 

Bokuto's face lit up at what Kuroo said. He stood tall and proud before glancing at Tsukishima.

"So he somehow didn't make it into the top three, huh?" Tsukishima asked mockingly. 

Bokuto's happy face dropped. 

"Don't mind," Kuroo chuckled, patting Bokuto on the back who immediately knocked his hand away. 

"Don't raise me up just to let me get knocked down!" 

"Besides," Kuroo said, turning back to Tsukishima. "If you are a middle blocker, you should practice blocking a little more." 

It seemed to irk Tsukishima. He glared at Kuroo slightly before walking into the gymnasium, surprising Bokuto. 

"May I join you guys too?" [y/n] asked, walking up to them. 

"Eeek!" Bokuto shouted. "When did you get here?!" 

"I've been here... for quite some time," [y/n] slowly replied. 

Kuroo chuckled before nodding. "The more the merrier." 

"Plus, it would be interesting to see what you can do..." 

**To be continued...**


	11. Fallen Angel - 9

  
  


_"Hey [y/n]! Join us!"_

_"Hey [y/n], meet my friends!"_

_"Hey [y/n], come play with us."_

[y/n] was never able to make any friends when he was younger, unlike his brother who was two years older than him.

Despite being a happy and friendly boy, [y/n] could only sit under the shades of a big tree as he watched the other kids his age play together.

Despite being more serious and calm than other kids his age, [b/n] still made many friends.

It irked [y/n].

_"Sorry Nii-chan, I have extra schoolwork to complete."_

_"Sorry, I'm not feeling too well today."_

_"I... Mum needs my help to run some errands. Sorry..."_

And then he sat somewhere, hidden in the shadows as he watched his brother play with his friends.

[y/n] never really understood what friendship was.

He'd talked to his classmates, joined their conversation... but he was always the black sheep. He was the extra puzzle piece that was unneeded.

No matter how much [y/n] tried to adapt to the others, the boy still finds himself alone.

His voice was never heard.

He was never visible.

He wasn't special.

[y/n] thinks [b/n] was too preoccupied with his own life to ever notice... but he was proven wrong when his brother came into his view one day when [y/n] was watching [b/n] and his friends play.

And in his hands was a volleyball.

_"Come on [n/n]-chan! Play with us."_

_"[n/n]-chan?"_

_"Yeah! I thought about this on the spot! What do you think of it? Cool right?!"_

That day, [y/n]'s excuses were ignored.

It wasn't an invitation nor a question.

[b/n] wasn't giving [y/n] any chances to run away.

That day, [y/n] finally experienced friendship.

_"Bye [b/n]! Bye [y/n]!"_

_"Hey [y/n]! Make sure to practice more! Let's play another good game next time!"_

Friendship... is something warm.

[y/n] couldn't help but placed his hand on where his heart was located at as he stared at the figures that slowly disappeared down the street.

_"What is this?"_

He had asked his brother that day. [b/n] never replied.

Instead, he smiled at [y/n] before tossing the volleyball at [y/n], who caught it in surprise.

_"Come on, you need to practice to beat them the next time right?"_

But there was never a next time.

_"Why are we leaving so suddenly? Nii-chan? Mum?"_

Nobody replied. Instead, they were busy shoving their possessions into a few backpacks, whispering to each other with a nervous look on their faces.

Later, they left the house in the middle of the night, leaving their biological father alone in that house.

[y/n] was young and naive at that time. He didn't understand why they had to silently leave the home they had lived in ever since they were born and go to their uncle's house instead.

Only when he was older did his mother finally told him what happened.

[y/n] felt sick, angry and mad at the world. He was ready to storm back to his biological father and beat him, like how he beat his mother. He wanted to throw him out of the house during a rainy day and lock him outside for one whole night without dinner, like how he did to his mother.

However, [b/n] stopped him.

_"Let's go play some volleyball..."_

His brother had told him softly, pulling him outside with the ball in his hand.

Volleyball... to the [l/n] brothers was like a remedy for anything.

It helped [y/n] make friends.

It helped distract and calm [b/n] from the terrifying knowledge of his mother getting hurt.

[b/n] entered junior high and got into the volleyball team as a starting player. [y/n] admired his brother's skills and trained harder to join him in junior high.

[y/n] managed to join the same school as [b/n], and had also managed to join the same volleyball team as a starting player.

The brotherly duo... who were terrifying opponents to play against.

Then [b/n] graduated and was accepted into Shiratorizawa.

On the first day of [b/n]'s high school journey, they had made a promise to each other.

_"I will get into Shiratorizawa and play together with you one day! And we will go to the Nationals together!"_

_"Promise?"_

_"Promise."_

As days passed, it turned into weeks, then months... Before they knew it, [y/n] was in his last year of junior high and [b/n] was already a second-year student in Shiratorizawa.

The day during the last tournament before the third-years leave, [y/n] reminded [b/n] of the promise they had made long ago.

_"Win this tournament and enter the Nationals, Nii-chan! I will join you next year!"_

_"Promise?"_

_"Promise."_

And indeed, Shiratorizawa had gotten into the Nationals.

_"Wah... Nii-chan! You're amazing!"_

Nothing less was expected from the second best ace in the Miyagi Prefecture.

_"I want to be like you someday. We will play on the same court, in the same team. We will win all the games in front of us and beat all our opponents together!"_

_"Promise?"_

_"Promise."_

Promise broken indeed.

_"Where's Nii-chan?"_

[y/n] had phoned his mother that night after the accident. His brother hasn't come to meet him yet and it was already 7 at night.

_"[b/n]'s gotten into an accident! I'm sorry [y/n], but I think you've to go home yourself tonight. Be careful on the way! Make sure to text me when you reach home! I won't be back so soon. There's food in the cupboard. Eat a dinner and rest okay?"_

_"Wait mum?"_

His mother had hanged up.

[y/n] took the time to process the information dumped onto him... before he realised...

He ran back home. Nobody was there.

He wanted to see his brother, to make sure he was okay but he didn't know where to go. His parents weren't answering his calls and their texts were only short and simple.

_"Nii-chan, please get back home safely."_

That night, [y/n] cried himself to sleep.   
  
  


***  
  
  


_"Is he here?"_

_"Yes. He's still not awake yet though."_

[y/n] visited his brother every day.

Until the fight they had.

The promise they made so many years ago flashed through his head.

_"Promise?"_

_"Promise."_

No promise.

Volleyball was their remedy.

Volleyball was also the scissors that severed the strings that connected them.

_"NOTHING IS OKAY!"_

_"I hate you."_

[y/n] lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling after he had gotten home, his hand bandaged up from the wound he had inflicted upon himself when he had punched the wall.

Will anything ever be okay again?

No.

Nothing will ever be okay again.   
  
  
  
  
  


**To be continued...**   
  
  



	12. Fallen Angel - 10

"ONE MORE!" 

Akaashi tossed to Bokuto again before the top four spiker slammed the ball down. Tsukishima landed on the ground, exhausted. 

"Yes!" Bokuto cheered. 

"You just beat all of one blocker," Akaashi told Bokuto with a bored look. 

"Shut up!" 

"So, how about two then?" Kuroo stepped in with a smirk on his face. 

[y/n] mentally rolled his eyes. "Three. Not two." 

Behind them, Lev lay on the ground, exhausted to the point where he couldn't stand up anymore. Earlier on, [y/n] had helped Kuroo trained Lev in receiving. [y/n] was supposed to continue teaching Lev... 

But it seems like Lev can't move anymore. 

"Your receives are getting better, Lev," [y/n] told the Russian giant. "Take a rest, we will resume practice later." 

"More practice...?" He heard Lev sighed behind him. [y/n] ignored the boy and turned back to the group. 

The three stood in a line, with Tsukishima and [y/n] at the sides and Kuroo in the middle. "Four-eyes, make sure to keep that straight in check!" Kuroo whispered to Tsukishima as Akaashi tossed the ball to Bokuto. 

Bokuto jumped up to spike, his eyes scanning the court to look for a place to spike the ball. For a brief moment, [y/n] and Bokuto's eyes met. The hawklike eyes [y/n] possessed on court can make even a professional player shudder in fear. If Bokuto hadn't already played against [y/n] before, this gaze might have shocked him enough to lose concentration. 

Bokuto swallowed his fear and decided on a super inner cut-shot. 

_Smack._

A loud satisfying sound resonated through the gymnasium. [y/n]'s palm was red from stopping that powerful spike as he landed back on the ground with a satisfied smirk. 

"Damn it!" Bokuto shouted as he watched the ball hit the ground behind him. 

"Yeah!" Kuroo chuckled, high-fiving [y/n]. "Awesome block!" 

[y/n] laughed before turning his attention to Tsukishima and Bokuto, just managing to catch their conversation on time. 

"You know, four-eyes, you're great at reading attacks, but... Your blocks are pretty weak." 

Tsukishima looked as if lightning had struck him at Bokuto's words. 

"Your arms are so frail that I'm so scared I'm gonna break them. You need to stop the ball like you mean it." 

He was shaking in anger at this point. Yet, he still managed to regain himself quickly, putting his hands on his waist as he stared down at Bokuto with a smile. 

"I'm still a growing boy! I've just started gaining muscle and getting taller." 

It managed to irk Bokuto. 

"And that's Saltyshima in the action..." [y/n] sighed. 

Kuroo glanced at [y/n] before back at Tsukishima, his signature smirk present. "Talk like that, and the little shrimp is gonna hog all the glory. You guys play the same position right?" 

Tsukishima's smile disappeared as he listened to Kuroo's statement. It was silent for a while before he smiled again, throwing Kuroo and Bokuto off. 

"I don't think that can be helped," Tsukishima chuckled. "The difference in natural talent between me and Hinata is just too great." 

"Ahh! Are you practicing spikes again?" Inuoka's voice broke the tension that filled the air. "Want me to block?! I can block!" 

"Hey Lev, get your ass off the ground! Time to receive!" 

"Gah! Yaku-san!" 

"What do you mean by 'gah'?!" 

As the Nekoma team entered the gymnasium, Tsukishima decided it was time to leave. 

"Well, looks like I'll be in the way, so if you'll excuse me." 

"Hey!" Kuroo cried out as Tsukishima walked out of the gymnasium. 

"Looks like you stepped on a mine, Kuroo-san," Akaashi commented. 

"You pissed him off," Bokuto added. "At long last, Kuroo-kun, the master of provocation, has failed." 

Kuroo sighed. "Well... I wouldn't have thought that..." 

"Thought what?" Bokuto asked, his smile dropping from his face. 

"Karasuno's shrimp is definitely strange and a threat, but in terms of technique and experience, he is like a baby bird. Plus, he's really short. I never thought guy with glasses, who's far taller and smarter, would not only think that they're not equal, but actually think that shrimp is above his level." 

[y/n] sighed, thinking back to how Tsukishima was during the training camp. The rest of the team were working hard to get better... everyone besides Tsukishima. 

"I think..." [y/n] started, grabbing everyone's attention. "Tsukishima thinks that this is just a club.... It's just a club, therefore, why should he put so much effort into something he will drop after high school?" [y/n] sighed, "B-but I might be wrong... Maybe he's just insecure or something and that statement you made irked him off." He glanced at Kuroo at the last part. 

"What about you [l/n]?" Akaashi asked. Kuroo, Bokuto and [y/n] turned to Akaashi in surprise. 

"What about what?" 

"Do you think that this is just a club?" 

_"Volleyball saved me," [b/n] smiled. It wasn't a happy smile, nor was it a sad smile. It was a tired smile, something rarely seen from someone so young. "Without it, I wouldn't be able to cope with everything that had happened in my life."_

"No." 

"It's something more than just a club to me." 

***

"Hey, hey, hey!" Bokuto shouted in joy as he landed on the ground. 

It's been quite a while and everyone was feeling exhausted. Lev was barely able to walk and decided to just lay on the ground even though he was in the middle of a court while Bokuto was still spiking. Yet, Bokuto was still jumping around, asking for Akaashi to toss to him one more time. 

"Hey! Go get your dinner before the kitchen closes!" One of the Fukurodani's managers said, knocking on the gymnasium's door to get their attention. "If you're late then there will be no more food for you guys." 

"Finally," [y/n] said, standing up from his sitting position. Bokuto's spiking practice really has no end. If the manager hadn't came to remind them to get dinner, [y/n] bet the practice will go on until the next morning. 

_'Just what do Bokuto-san eat?'_

[y/n] thought as he felt an arm slung onto his shoulder. "Come on," Kuroo said beside him. [y/n] sighed as Kuroo dragged him to the canteen, barely keeping up to his pace without stumbling a little. His legs weighed like bricks. It was a feeling that [y/n] hadn't felt for a long time. 

"You really should work on that stamina of yours," Kuroo chuckled beside [y/n]. 

"Hai hai..." [y/n] trailed off before plopping down on his seat, too tired to go grab his tray of food. [y/n] lay on his arms and was about to dose off when the sound of tray slamming harshly against the table shocked him. 

[y/n] jumped and fell off his seat before glaring up at the person who did that. 

"Hey, you should be thankful... I got food for you," Kuroo said, gesturing at the two trays on the table. [y/n] slowly pushed himself up before sitting back down on his seat. 

"Aye!" Bokuto cried as he sat down besides Kuroo. Akaashi arrived later and took a seat beside [y/n]. 

Akaashi and [y/n] ate in silence as Kuroo and Bokuto bickered about something in front of them. 

[l/n] finished and was about to dose off when Bokuto's voice woke him up. "Hey [l/n], I realised we haven't officially introduce ourselves yet!" 

"Hah... right... We only know your name thanks to your team and the rumours about you going around." 

"Ohh..." [y/n] trailed off before yawning. He blinked a few times to try to stay awake before continuing, "I'm [l/n] [y/n]." 

"Bokuto Koutarou!" 

"Kuroo Tetsurou." 

"Akaashi Keiji..." 

"You know, the name [l/n]'s really familiar..." Bokuto trailed off, staring at [l/n] as if he was trying to decode a mystery. "I think there was another great spiker in Miyagi named... [l/n] too right?" He asked, glancing at Kuroo for confirmation. 

[y/n] tensed. His tiredness seemed to disappear when he heard Bokuto's statement. But Bokuto didn't realised, nor did Kuroo since he was busy processing Bokuto's question. Akaashi took notice but decided not to comment about it. 

"Yeah... you were probably talking about my brother, [l/n] [b/n]. He was the second best spiker in the Miyagi Prefecture, right behind Ushijima..." 

"Ohh... [l/n] [b/n]..." Bokuto's eyes widened when he remembered. "[l/n] from Shiratorizawa! He's your brother?!" 

"Yeah..." 

"No wonder your name was so familiar! I-" 

[y/n] didn't pay attention to Bokuto. He fiddled with his fingers a little, trying to calm himself down. After a while, after Bokuto stopped his ranting, [y/n] stood up. 

"I'm really tired," [y/n] said as he picked up his tray. "I'm going to go first." 

"Oh! Alright, goodnight [l/n]!" Bokuto greeted the [h/c] male with an excited smile. 

"Goodnight." 

[y/n] walked off, not noticing a pair of blue eyes that followed him. 

"Hey Akaashi, where're you going?" Bokuto asked in surprise as Akaashi stood up. Usually, he would be waiting for Bokuto and head back to their dorm together. 

"I'm just going to check something," Akaashi replied, not even giving Bokuto a second glance before he walked away, following after [y/n]. 

**To be continued...**


	13. Fallen Angel - 11

The conversation earlier had triggered a lot of old memories. Those nostalgic memories of [y/n] and his brother that he had buried and locked away from his brain. 

[b/n] helped him. 

So he was going to do the same. 

[y/n] took out his phone, gripping it hard as he clicked into his text messages. 

**1 unread message**   
**[mum]**   
_Your physical age is 16. Doesn't mean that you're mentally 16 either._

"Alright," [y/n] sighed under his breath. His heart was pumping wildly as he typed in the first letter into the text-box. "Don't chicken out now... your brother needs you..." [y/n] murmured. It was hard to type when his hands were shaking badly. It took [y/n] quite a while to finish the sentence. He quickly sent it before he could give up and run away again. 

**[y/n]**   
_Mum... there's something I need to tell you. It's really important and serious._

[y/n] had the urged to just toss the phone into the drain nearby and destroy the evidence of what he wrote. The waiting for a reply made his urge worst as the seconds passed. [y/n] collapsed down on the grassy field, barely able to concentrate on anything besides his wild heartbeat and the screen in front of him. 

Why was he so nervous? 

It's just a simple message. 

A precaution. 

It seemed like an hour had past, but in reality, it had only been a few minutes. A _ding_ sounded from his phone, signalling an incoming message. 

**[mum]**   
_What is it?_

_'Don't mess this up...'_

**[y/n]**   
_It's about [b/n]._

_'You can't give up now...'_

**[y/n]**   
_Ushijima and Semi, [b/n]'s friends came to visit me not long ago. They told me... something about [b/n]._

The double ticks beside his messages were blue, which meant his mother was reading. [y/n] gulped, wondering how he should frame the next sentence properly. 

**[y/n]**   
_He's been absent from classes for the past two weeks. Nobody knows where he is._

**[mum]**   
_Are you sure? His teachers would have caught on if he was absent without a reason. None of them contacted me._

**[y/n]**   
_Ushijima is his classmate. He said [b/n]'s been absent for two weeks... He could be just bluffing though..._

**[mum]**   
_I will check in with his teachers tomorrow. And ask him about it later. Anything else?_

**[y/n]**   
_According to Ushijima and Semi... they said... he could be suicidal._

[y/n] knew his mother read that message, but she didn't reply immediately like the rest of the conversation they had before. It must be a lot to take in, after all, it was for [y/n] too. He sat on the ground, head hung low as he waited for the next message. 

He got it out. 

After a week. 

Finally. 

It was as if the bricks that were weighing him down for almost a week suddenly disappeared. [y/n] was able to breathe properly again. 

**[mum]**   
_Are you sure?_

**[y/n]**   
_I'm not a 100% sure. But... Ushijima and Semi don't seem like the people who will lie about something so serious._

It took some time for his mother to reply. 

**[mum]**   
_Can I get either one of their numbers?_

**[y/n]**   
_xxxxxxxxxxxx - Ushijima's._

**[mum]**   
_Thank you for telling me [y/n]. Now go enjoy your training camp and don't worry about this... I will take care of it._

He did it. 

"Holy shit," [y/n] started, collapsing on the grass on his back. He stared at the night sky which slowly calmed him down. The nervousness from before was starting to disappear. However, something else came. 

Tears were dripping down his face before he knew it. 

From stress? 

Sadness? 

Or relief? 

[y/n] didn't know. He was just sobbing to his heart content. He was far away from people, so nobody can hear his crying- which [y/n] was glad... except... 

"[l/n]..." Akaashi's voice appeared from behind him. 

"A-akaashi," [y/n] cried out in surprise, standing up. The sudden action made him dizzy. He nearly tripped and fell if it wasn't for Akaashi's hand on his shoulder, stabling him before he could fall. 

"Uhm... how long have you been here?" [y/n] asked, keeping his head low. Akaashi probably already knew that he was crying, but he didn't want him to see his tear-streaked face. It was also luck that [y/n] was shorter than the setter, so it made it easier to hide his face from Akaashi's view. 

"Quite some time..." Akaashi said, his voice calm and smooth. "I know you were crying, so you don't have to hide your face, you know." 

[y/n] wiped off the tears that trickled down his cheek. He slowly glanced up at Akaashi and let out a ragged breath. 

"Sorry-" 

"It's okay to cry..." Akaashi cut [y/n] off. His face was still expressionless like always but [y/n] could see a hint of worry behind that mask he wears. "Crying can help ease emotional pain. Everyone cries, you don't have to hide it." 

Silence. Before [y/n] started crying again. 

Akaashi isn't good at comforting others. But he knew enough from experience. He decided to hug the crying boy, not trusting himself to say anything. 

As for [y/n]... He hadn't cried like this for about a year. Every time he started sobbing, [y/n] would try his best to push it down. Or he would hold it in until he was home alone before pressing his face against his pillow to hide the sounds of his cries. 

It felt good to cry out loud and be comforted by someone else. The pain he had held in for a year... It's all coming out together with the tears. 

It took [y/n] 10 minutes to calm down. Akaashi, being himself was counting the minutes that past. The [h/c] male finally got tired. He pushed himself away from Akaashi and used the back of his hand to wiped off the tears on his face. 

"T-thank you..." [y/n] whispered. 

Akaashi nodded. 

"I- I think I better get going," [y/n] said. He smiled at Akaashi. "Goodnight." 

[y/n] turned and started to walk back when Akaashi stopped him. 

"If you need someone to talk to.... I'm here," Akaashi said, hesitating a little, not sure if he said something right. After all, Akaashi was just another person that [y/n] met in the training camp. They've never talked until today, and even if they did, it was just a little. Akaashi was nothing more than a passerby in [y/n]'s life. He was merely an acquaintance that [y/n] has to communicate to during the camp... Or was he? 

The smile of [y/n]'s face said different. 

Action speaks louder than words. 

Both of them don't talk much. Akaashi was never one to show emotions and [y/n] was too scared to open up to the world. But as they both headed back to their teammates, both of them knew something. 

"Where've you been?" Bokuto asked Akaashi when he reached the dorm room all the Fukurodani members were sharing. 

"I was talking to someone," Akaashi merely replied. 

"Who?" Bokuto asked, a little incredulous. So were the rest of his teammates. 

They all knew how Akaashi is. He doesn't like mixing with new people and the only person he really talked to was Bokuto and maybe the rest of his teammates. 

A small smile overtook Akaashi's expressionless face as he answered, "A friend." 

Back in the Karasuno dorm room, [y/n] returned to his teammates chatting with one another. Some of them were already in a deep slumber due to tiredness. Earlier, [y/n] had headed to the toilet to clean himself up. He stayed there for a while until he was sure he didn't looked like he just finished crying before returning to his teammates. 

"Hey [l/n]!" Hinata shouted. Daichi scolded Hinata for shouting, gesturing at his sleeping teammates with an angry look on his face. 

"How was training with the other teams like?" Hinata asked excitedly, making sure to lower down his voice before Daichi could scold him again. 

"It was great," [y/n] replied. 

Daichi told the remaining few to sleep, threatening some who didn't want to sleep with extra practice tomorrow. As the lights turned off and the sound of snoring filled the air, [y/n] smiled. 

He made a friend. 

**To be continued...**


	14. Fallen Angel - 12

"Hey, Daichi's gonna get mad..." Sugawara desperately tried to stop the fight between Tsukishima and Nishinoya. 

[y/n] plopped down besides Yamaguchi, still half asleep as he stared at the fighting Tsukishima and Nishinoya. [y/n] couldn't really keep his eyes open as he slowly fell back into a slumber, slamming his face against the table in the process, scaring his teammates into silence. The pain woke [y/n] up. He let out a shout and scrambled up from his seat, hand shooting to his red forehead. 

He heard Tsukishima snickered and others trying to contain their laughter. Being as good as ever, Sugawara bit his tongue to prevent himself from laughing as he helped the dizzy [y/n] to sit down. 

Then the training started. 

So did Karasuno's losing streak. 

"GO!" Daichi shouted, clapping his hands. The team ran up the hill together. 

They lost the next game, the next game, the game after... and the rest of the matches they participated in. 

After continuously losing and completing their penalty, Karasuno's members were out of breath and exhausted. [y/n] lay on the floor, too tired to do anything else. He thanked Sugawara who passed him his bottle and was about to start drinking when a shout caught his attention. 

"Everyone!" The managers walked in with a smile on their faces and plates of watermelons in their hands. "The parents from Shinzen High gave us some watermelons!" 

Everyone in the gymnasium gaped at the delicious fruit in front of their eyes. They gathered outside and was each handed a watermelon slice. [y/n] sat beside Hinata, munching on his watermelon as he watched Lev spit out watermelon seeds cleanly. 

"Oh! That's amazing!" Hinata shouted and decided to try it out himself. [y/n] decided to go back into the gymnasium since he was about to finish his watermelon, not wanting to get any watermelon seeds in his hair in case Hinata fails. 

[y/n] followed Tsukishima in, occasionally glancing at the tall boy as he remembered yesterday's incident. [y/n] sighed a little, not knowing how to interfere and talk to Tsukishima. 

The matches continued, and their losing streak increased each match. [y/n]'s legs were barely able to support his body at the end of the day. He sat down at the side of the gymnasium, resting as he watched the others team up to do their own practices. 

"Hey four-eyes! Would you like to help us out with spiking practice again?" Bokuto asked Tsukishima enthusiastically. 

"I'm sorry," Tsukishima sighed, walking away. "I'll pass." 

Bokuto's smile dropped before he turned to Kuroo. 

"Kuroo!" 

"Aww man..." 

"I haven't even said anything yet!" Bokuto shouted angrily. "[l/n]! What about you?!" 

"I'm coming..." [y/n] sighed, pushing himself up from the ground. Bokuto beamed and [y/n]'s answer and slung his arm over the shorter boy's shoulder, dragging him to their destination. Kuroo followed behind them, snickering something along the lines about [y/n]'s misfortune. 

***

"TSUKKI!" 

[y/n] was practicing halfway together with Kuroo, Akaashi and Bokuto when he heard Yamaguchi's shout. He completely forgot that Akaashi had just tossed the ball to Bokuto and didn't jump together with Kuroo to block the ball. 

"Sorry!" [y/n] shouted when he realised what happened. 

They decided to rest for a while. [y/n] grabbed his bottle and took a few gulps of water when Yamaguchi's shout caught him by surprise again. 

"WHAT ELSE DO WE NEED BESIDES PRIDE?!" 

[y/n] spat out the water in his mouth. "Shit, are they fighting?" He wiped off the water that dripped off his chin, blushing a little in embarrassment. 

"Was that one of your teammates?" Akaashi asked. 

"Yeah... I think it was Yamaguchi. Only he calls Tsukishima 'Tsukki'. I just hope they aren't fighting..." [y/n] sighed. 

Just then, the footsteps of another person grabbed their attention. 

Tsukishima stood at the doorway. They stared at each other for a while before Akaashi broke the silence. 

"Oya?" He said, staring at the boy in surprise. 

"Oya, oya?" Bokuto said beside Akaashi, a smirk starting to form on his face. 

"Oya, oya, oya?" Kuroo walked towards Tsukishima. 

[y/n] only stared at Tsukishima, wondering what did Yamaguchi said to him earlier. 

"There's something I'd like to ask you," Tsukishima started as he walked in. "May I?"

"Sure!" Kuroo and Bokuto cried out together, both smirking. 

Tsukishima stared at them for a while before he bowed, "Thank you so much." He stood back up, straight and continued, "Both of your schools are sometimes considered powerhouse schools right?" 

The statement seemed to have irked both Bokuto and Kuroo as Kuroo answered, "Well, yeah." Akaashi's face has the same unreadable expression. 

"Even if you were able to make it to nationals, actually winning there will be difficult, right?" 

"But not impossible!" 

"Now, now, let's hear him out," Akaashi cut Bokuto off. "This is just a what-if." 

Bokuto calmed down slightly afterwards. [y/n] wanted to applaud Akaashi. Even though that boy is expressionless in a way, he somehow knows what to say or do to calm someone down without having to express much emotions. 

"I seriously can't figure out how everyone can be so determined. Volleyball is just a club, and maybe you'll get to write, 'I worked really well in my club in high school,' on you resume, right?" 

"Just a club?" Bokuto repeated, his eyes narrowing. [y/n] unconsciously took a step backwards and shuddered a little from the intense look Bokuto had in his eyes. 

"That almost sounds like someone's name," Bokuto added. 

"Ooh! Like Mary Club?" Kuroo gasped beside Bokuto. 

Tsukishima and Akaashi sweat-dropped while [y/n] collapsed onto the ground in disbelief. 

"No wait, I guess it was 'just some club'." 

"Aw man! So it doesn't sound like someone's name! Man, I was so close!" 

"Damn it..." 

Bokuto and Kuroo might be scary and strong on the court, but sometimes, they were really stupid. [y/n] pitied the people who have to put up to them almost everyday. 

"Say, four-eyes!" Bokuto shouted, turning his attention to Tsukishima. 

"It's Tsukishima." 

"Say, Tsukishima-kun... Is volleyball fun?" 

It took Tsukishima a while to answer, "No, not really..." 

"Maybe, that's because you suck." 

[y/n] coughed, trying to hide his laughter. It was rare to see someone else insulting Tsukishima instead, it was always the other way around. 

"I'm a third-year and I've been to nationals, and I'm better than you. Like way better." Bokuto stated proudly. 

"You don't have to tell me that." 

"But I've only recently started thinking that volleyball was fun." 

This shocked Tsukishima a little as his eyes widened a little. 

"Ever since my straight became usable in matches. Because my cross hits that I was really good at kept getting blocked, I got frustrated and practiced the hell out of straights. And... at the next tournament, the same blockers couldn't touch it. I got right passed them." Reminiscing in the old memories made Bokuto smile as he continued. "Just that one shot made me feel like my time had finally come." He started laughing before giving Tsukishima the same intense glare as he did just now. 

"It all depends on if you had that moment or not." 

_"That moment..."_

[y/n] briefly remembered his own brother saying the same thing before. 

"It doesn't really matter what happens in the future, or if you can win your next match. The joy you feel beating the guy in front of you, and when you're able to pull out 120% of your potential..." 

"... is everything."

_"... is everything."_

"Well," Bokuto said, the intense glare gone. [y/n] suddenly felt more relaxed. "At least that was how it was for me, and it doesn't mean it applies for everyone. I don't really understand why you say it's 'just a club', but I don't think you're wrong." 

"But once that moment arrives for you..." 

_"But when that time comes..."_

"That's the moment you'll be hooked on volleyball." 

_The jump._

_The swing of his arm as his palm connected with the ball._

_The moment of satisfaction when the ball hits the other side of the court._

_When all your opponents turn to glare at you from below your view._

_"You'll be hooked forever."_

"Uhh... I'll be going first..." [y/n] cried out, grabbing his things in a hurry. He rushed out of the gymnasium before anyone could say anything. 

He finally understood. 

_'[b/n], I will help you.'_

_'I'm not going to let you suffer anymore.'_

**To be continued...**


	15. Fallen Angel - 13

"#4!" 

Bokuto jumped and spiked the ball with amazing power. It hit Hinata's hand and flew sideways, landing in Karasuno's side of the court. A point was given to Fukurodani. 

As Takeda-sensei called a timeout, [y/n] followed his teammates out of the court and to the bench, yawning at the same time too. 

"You should have slept earlier yesterday," Kageyama commented bluntly besides [y/n], who just yawned again with a sleepy look. 

"I-I-" Before [y/n] could continue, a yawn took over. He sighed after the yawn, glancing at Kageyama. "I needed to do some research." 

"Tch, what research is more important than a good night sleep before another day of intense training," Kageyama said, rolling his eyes at the shorter male. 

[y/n] had immediately rushed to do some research on volleyball teams after practicing with Kuroo, Bokuto and Akaashi. Even though he spent most of his night researching, [y/n] still wasn't satisfied. 

[b/n] helped him. [y/n] wanted to return the favour and chance his brother had given him so long ago by letting his brother play volleyball again. 

The team crowded around Coach Ukai. 

"Even if you're not able to stop #4's spikes, at least try to touch it." 

"Right!" 

"We don't have to stop it." 

Karasuno turned towards the direction of the voice, recognising it as Tsukishima's. They were a little surprised at his words since Tsukishima has never really bothered to comment or add anything during timeouts. 

Ukai was the first to regain himself. "Well..." he said, smirking. "If you're able to shut the ball out, there's nothing better." 

As the whistle was blown, signalling the end of the short timeout, the team entered the court again. [y/n] couldn't help but glance at Tsukishima. The conversation he had with Kuroo, Bokuto and Akaashi yesterday must have awaken something. 

The game continued, with Fukurodani still in the lead. 

Karasuno served the ball this time, sending it over to Fukurodani's side. #11 managed to receive the ball cleanly, sending it to Akaashi. 

"Nice receive!" Bokuto shouted with a smile. "Give it to me!" 

"Left! #4 #4!" Daichi shouted, running over the the net together with Tsukishima, waiting to jump at the right time. 

[y/n] stayed behind, getting ready to receive the ball in case the block didn't work. 

As Bokuto jumped up to spike, Tsukishima and Daichi jumped too. For a moment, [y/n] caught a look of surprise on Bokuto's face before he hit the ball- 

Softly. 

"Feint!" [y/n] shouted, hoping Nishinoya, who was the closest can get it in time. However, the ball hit the ground before Nishinoya could touch it. 

"Damn it!" Nishinoya cried out in frustration. 

"Damn..." [y/n] trailed off, turning his attention to Bokuto, who was cheering with his teammates. The way Bokuto was positioned, it looked like he was going to hit a powerful attack. [y/n]'s forehead furrowed as he thought about it. Tsukishima's blocking form has improved. Kuroo must have taught him yesterday, [y/n] decided. It must have pressured Bokuto a little so he decided to do a feint. 

Bokuto was amazing in a way. Being able to think that fast wasn't an easy feat. 

"This is what a top five spiker is like," [y/n] gritted his teeth in frustration. 

[y/n] was supposed to be an all-rounder, a powerful player. Yet, the matches he had played during the training camp proved different. Even though [y/n] was on Karasuno's team, they hadn't managed to win any game at all. 

That mere thought was really frustrating. 

_'The other teams must be thinking, 'Where's the nicknamed Angel of the Court? That is an all-rounder? Their team hasn't even won a match even with a proclaimed powerful player!''_

"Shut up, brain..." [y/n] murmured under his breath, clenching his fists as he tried his best to banish these thoughts. 

The game continued. [y/n]'s frustration grew worse as the game went on. This caused him to make more mistakes than he usually did in-game. 

"Don't mind!" Daichi shouted when [y/n] failed to serve the ball over the net. 

[y/n] clenched his fists and shouted back, "Sorry!" 

Coach Ukai and the rest of his team had realised his mood had dropped drastically and that it was affecting his gameplay. Ukai gestured at Tanaka, calling him to switch in with [y/n]. 

"Don't be so tense," Ukai said, patting [y/n]'s shoulder as he moved aside for [y/n] to sit on the bench. "Use this time to relax and calm down." 

[y/n] sighed and sat down on the bench. He didn't really pay attention to the game much, too busy dwelling in his inner world as he replayed the failed serve over again. 

His failed serve. 

_Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump._

[y/n] slowly brought his hand to his chest where his heart was located, squeezing the clothing material tight. He started to tremble as beads of sweat trickled down his forehead. 

_'Wait... When was the room so hot?'_

[y/n] couldn't really breathe well. It felt like he was drowning, suffocating in the deep sea. 

"[l/n]..." He heard someone called out to him. The voice was faint and faraway, [y/n] wanted to reply back... but he couldn't move. 

His vision started blurring, fading in and out as he struggled to breathe properly. Tears gathered in his eyes and slowly trickled down his cheek. 

[y/n] couldn't move. He felt... too weak to do so. 

_"You're weak."_

_"Worthless."_

_"We can win without you."_

_"You will only drag the team down."_

"Stop..." [y/n] whispered, collapsing on the floor. 

_"You're nothing more than a burden."_

_"You're a failure."_

_"Get out."_

"Stop." [y/n] cried, louder this time. The tears were still flowing freely down his face. 

He could hear footsteps, voices and felt people surrounding him, calling out his name. But [y/n] couldn't do anything. 

He couldn't do anything besides crying. 

He's so weak. 

_"You promised."_

_"You lied to me."_

_"I hate you."_

"STOP!" [y/n] shouted shakily, trembling hard. 

It was much harder to breathe now. [y/n] desperately tucked at his shirt collar and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to get rid of the voices that were laughing at him, repeating the insults over and over again. 

He felt warm arms wrapped around him, pulling him into a hug. 

"Hey, it's okay..." A soothing voice pierced through the thick layer of insults. "Concentrate and breathe with me." 

[y/n] heard the person took in a deep breath and followed, trying his best to follow the timing of the deep inhale and exhale. 

It seemed like hours before [y/n] was finally able to calm down. 

He felt so tired. 

Really tired. 

[y/n] slowly opened his eyes, meeting blue ones. It took him a while to focus before he realised it was Akaashi. 

"Are you okay?" 

"I... Y-yeah..." [y/n] replied slowly. 

He's in Tokyo. 

In the gymnasium of Shinzen High. 

He's safe. 

With the help of Akaashi, he slowly sat up from the ground and realised that the volleyball matches had stopped and most people were looking at [y/n]. 

He stood up, stumbling a little in the process. 

"Sorry," [y/n] said, bowing at the people. His face flushed in embarrassment as he continued, "Sorry for disrupting your matches." 

"You don't have to apologise," Kageyama cut in. He gave [y/n] a worried look, so did the rest of Karasuno. 

[y/n] was forced to seat down on the bench as they made sure he was okay before Sugawara was allowed to help [y/n] up to the dorm room. 

"You better get some sleep and rest well," Sugawara said as he led [y/n] to the dorm room. 

"Thank you, Sugawara-san... but-" 

"No buts. It's obvious that you're tired and haven't rest well," Sugawara cut [y/n] off, gently pushing him into the dorm room. "Go get some rest, we will wake you up for dinner." 

[y/n] sighed and walked in. He heard Sugawara walked off, his footsteps echoing before it stopped. The footsteps sounded again, getting louder this time as Sugawara appeared at the doorway again. 

"Look... [y/n]..." Sugawara trailed off. "I know we aren't exactly close... but..." He took in a deep breath and continued, "If there's something bothering you, I'm here for you to talk to." 

[y/n] gaped at Sugawara for a while before he nodded. 

Sugawara gave him a smile before he walked off again, his footsteps not stopping until he couldn't hear it anymore. 

[y/n] lied down on his sleeping bag, staring up at the ceiling. 

He could feel the tiredness catching up to him as he closed his eyes. 

The sides of his lips slowly curled up as he drift off into a deep slumber.   
  
  


**To be continued...**


	16. Fallen Angel - 14

"[L/N]!" 

[y/n] was jolted awake by Nishinoya's shout. He groaned and slowly opened his eyes, finding himself faced with an angry Daichi and scared Nishinoya. 

"What the-" 

"Ignore them," Kageyama said, raising his hand out to help [y/n] up. "How are you feeling?" 

[y/n] got up and stretched his body, smiling as a satisfied _crack_ sounded. "Much better," he replied, yawning a little afterwards. He sighed and glanced out of the window before his eyes widened. 

Outside is- 

"Bright?!" 

"Yeah, you slept the whole day yesterday. We couldn't wake you up for dinner so we decided to let you sleep on..." 

Morning... which means... 

"Today is the last day..." [y/n] trailed off. He walked to the window and stared at the scenery outside. "The Spring Interhigh.... is coming soon." A small smile slowly spread across his face when the back of his head flared up in pain. 

"Oi! Let's concentrate on today first. We aren't finish with the matches yet," Kageyama said sternly. [y/n] massaged the back of his head, glaring at Kageyama. 

"You could have just said so without hitting my head." 

"It's payback, boke! For that time you hit my head!" 

"You-" 

"Oi!" Sugawara shouted behind them, clapping his hands together with a small smile. "You should get going before Daichi gets mad." Though the smile was sweet, [y/n] could sense it was a warning. He shuddered and started jogging out of the room, Kageyama following behind. 

"Sorry senpai..." 

As they were walking to the bathroom, Kageyama started. 

"About yesterday..." He said, stopping suddenly. 

"What?" [y/n] asked, glancing at Kageyama with a questioning look as he stopped too. 

"Was it your first time?" Kageyama hesitated before continuing, "The... panic attack." 

[y/n] sighed, starting his walk again. He didn't answer nor did he look at Kageyama for some time until they reached the bathroom. [y/n] stopped in front of the door, turning to look at Kageyama with an unreadable expression on his face. 

"Y-yeah... It was my first time having a panic attack." 

"Are you... okay?" 

[y/n] stared at Kageyama with a surprise look for a while, before he started laughing. "Tobio..." [y/n] wheezed, laughing harder at the confused look plastered on Kageyama's face. "You're acting really different recently."

"B-boke..." 

"Sorry, sorry," [y/n] apologised after he calmed down slightly. With a smile, he continued. "You're truly a great friend, Tobio...." 

_'Sorry... I wasn't one...'_

"I'm okay... There's just a few things in my life that's bothering me slightly..." [y/n] said, not meeting Kageyama's eyes. "Come on, we better get ready before there's no more food." 

Before Kageyama could say anything, [y/n] left hurriedly. 

***

The whistle was blown. 

The game has ended. 

[y/n] honestly wasn't surprise that they lost again. 

"One round of diving receives!" Daichi shouted with a grim look on his face as the rest of the team followed. 

"Right!" 

As Hinata did the diving receive, [y/n] couldn't help but grin ear to ear. Thanks to losing, Karasuno has done more penalties than the other teams. The amount of times each of them had to do a diving receive was a lot. The more you practice, the better you get. 

[y/n] did his and stood up, panting heavily. He thanked Yachi when she handed him the water bottle and watched as the remaining few complete their penalties. 

"Damn it. We basically kept losing all the way to the end." Tanaka panted heavily. 

All of them were too tired to reply. 

"You guys, we need to keep doing your best and survive," Daichi's voice sounded from behind them. 

They turned to look up at him with a surprise look. 

"Daichi-san?" 

Daichi closed his eyes, hesitating a little before he said, "I just happened to hear this, and I was going to keep it quiet..." He looked away midway through his speech, wondering if he should actually tell them or not. 

"Wh-what is it?!" Tanaka asked. 

Daichi took in a deep breath and turned to look at them with a serious look. "When all of these practice matches are over... Apparently, the coaches are going to treat us to a barbecue." 

"Bar..." Tanaka shouted in disbelief. 

"...be..." Nishinoya shouted too. 

"...cue?!" Hinata finished the word, the three of them frozen in disbelief. 

[y/n] sighed, plopping down onto the ground as he watched the scene unfold in front of him. 

"Meaty meat, meat, meaty meat!" 

"Put 'em together, you get meat and meat!" 

"Meaty meat, meat!" 

Tanaka, Nishinoya and Hinata started shouting and dancing together while an awkward Kageyama tried to join in, doing some weird dance moves beside them. 

"Hooray for meat! Energy times a hundred! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!" 

[y/n] sweat-dropped. 

"Meat is god! Meat is god!" 

***

The team prepared for their next match against Fukurodani. 

[y/n] was stretching when Hinata's voice grabbed his attention. 

"Kageyama!" 

_'Are... they going to fight again?'_

"I want to hurry up and hit the falling toss!" He declared. 

The team could only stare at them in shock. 

Kageyama and Hinata stared at each other for a while before Kageyama turned away. 

"Don't rush." He continued, "As long as I'm missing the tosses, it won't be any practice for you." 

Yachi looked extremely surprised. [y/n] wondered if it has anything to do with the fight they had three weeks ago. 

"I was thinking this yesterday, too, but you're really creepy when you worry about others," Hinata added. "I get it, but hurry up and give me those tosses!" 

Kageyama looked like he was trying very hard not to explode, but the last sentence ticked him off. 

"That's why I'm practicing so hard, boke!" Kageyama yelled. 

The team looked happy and glad. [y/n] furrowed his eyebrows in confusion before sitting down next to his senpais. 

"Did something happened yesterday?" 

"Yesterday, some time in the match, Kageyama tossed to Hinata," Sugawara said. "Hinata shouted something along the lines of Kageyama holding back. He recognised the toss isn't the falling one and called Kageyama out." 

"Ohh...?" 

The game was about to begin. Karasuno gathered around as Coach Ukai gave his pep talk. 

"Anyway, try working out the new things you've all been practicing into this match." 

"Right!"

"Also I say this all the time, but put pressure on Fukurodani's #4 when he hits." 

"Yeah!"

"Right!" 

"In the end, this training camp was filled with penalties, but you guys should definitely feel different now than you did in the first away games." 

Everyone looked like they were deep in their own thoughts. Coach Ukai glanced around with a smirk before continuing. 

"Let's get an awesome win here and go eat some delicious meat!" 

"Yeah!" 

As [y/n] walked into the court with his teammates, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous. 

Everyone had improved greatly, even Tsukishima who didn't give his all in the beginning. 

"Hey Angel," Kageyama said, patting him on the shoulder. [y/n] turned around, surprised by the nickname. 

"We are counting on you." 

It was just a simple sentence, but [y/n] felt ten times better. The doubt he had yesterday was slowly dissolving as he smiled at Kageyama. 

The branches that had held him down for the past year was slowly loosening. He flapped his enormous white wings, the feathers glinting underneath the sunlight and took a step forwards, further away from the black hole behind him. 

Up above, a flock of crows surrounded him, waiting for him to break free and fly with them in the sky. 

_'Wait for me, I'm coming.'_

**To be continued...**


	17. Fallen Angel - 15

"Let's play!" 

"We are gonna get this one!" 

"Yeah!" 

[y/n] stared at Fukurodani's team, his piercing [h/c] eyes making the opponents shudder. 

_"We are counting on you."_

"Alright! Bring it, Karasuno!" Bokuto shouted. [y/n] and Bokuto's eyes briefly met before [y/n] smiled. 

_'Let's have a good game.'_

Asahi was serving first. 

"Asahi-san, nice serve!" 

Asahi did the jump serve he's been practicing for quite some time, his palm connecting against the ball before sending it over the net and to the other side of the court. Fukurodani's #11 managed to receive the powerful, but it was a little off. 

"Bokuto-san!" Akaashi shouted, preparing to toss to the ace. 

Tsukishima and Kageyama hurriedly went and stood in front of the net, waiting for Bokuto. [y/n] positioned himself at the left hand side of the court, in case Bokuto pulls off a cut-shot. His eyes followed the white-black haired ace as he jumped up, spiking the ball hard. 

It bounced off Tsukishima's palm and went back to their side of the court. 

"Out!" Someone cried as the ball landed outside of the court, scoring Fukurodani one point. 

"Damn, that was so close!" [y/n] cried, gritting his teeth as he stared at Bokuto. 

The game continued with Fukurodani one point ahead of Karasuno. 

"Left! Left!" 

[y/n]'s spike was powerful as he sent it over the net. However, Fukurodani's #7 managed to receive the ball back to the setter. Akaashi tossed it to #12 before he spiked the ball. 

A quick from the centre, sending a spike to the centre of the court where there was no one, except...

[y/n] smirked as he jumped in front of the ball, sending it high up into the air. The two teams could only gaped as the ball flew into the air. 

_'Even if your receive is a little off, you still manage to pull off a quick? You're pretty skilled, Akaashi...'_

"Nice cover!" Daichi shouted, regaining himself first. He sent the ball to Kageyama. 

"We are going to try again!" Both Kageyama and [y/n] shared a look, before he tossed the ball to [y/n]. 

[y/n] jumped, his eyes met the blockers ones. 

_'This time, I'm not letting you get this!'_

[y/n] was about to hit a straight when he curved his wrist instead, doing an insane cut-shot instead. However, [y/n] overestimated the power he used. The ball landed outside of the court, giving Fukurodani one point. 

"Don't mind, we will get the next one!" 

[y/n] clenched his fists, mentally beating himself in disappointment when Hinata's voice pulled him out from his own head. 

"Gwah! That was so cool, [l/n]-san!" 

"Really?" [y/n] asked, brightening up as he glanced at the middle blocker. 

Hinata nodded and beamed at him. The side of [y/n]'s lips curled up as he turned back to face his opponents. 

It was Fukurodani's turn to serve. Nishinoya managed to get the ball, sending it to Kageyama. Kageyama tossed to Tsukishima, who spiked it to the other side of the court. Unfortunately, Fukurodani's #3 managed to receive the ball. 

"Nice monkey!" Bokuto grinned. "Give me the last one!" He shouted, waving his hand in the air. 

Asahi, Tsukishima and Kageyama jumped up. The three tallest people jumped up to block Bokuto's spike. 

_'A straight is impossible.'_

[y/n] watched Bokuto and saw his wrist curved in the last second. 

_'Cut-shot!'_

[y/n] jumped in and tried to save the ball. However, the ball hit his arms and flew out off the court instead. 

"That was... a powerful spike...." [y/n] whispered, turning his attention to the ace. "Damn, he's so good..." 

"All right!" Bokuto shouted, before he turned to Akaashi. "Hey, did you see my awesome cut-shot just now?!" 

"I did, it was amazing." 

"It was pure luck, though!" 

Watching Bokuto get so excited managed to get [y/n] excited too. He stood up, before smirking at Bokuto. 

The game continued and Fukurodani was still in the lead. No one in Karasuno really expect to be able to win against the most powerful school in the training camp. 

[y/n] managed to receive the spike and sent it to Kageyama, who proceeded to toss it to Hinata. 

Faced off with two blockers, Hinata swung his arm hard and was prepared to hit a powerful spike when he used his fingers to gently hit the ball instead. 

Everyone could only gaped in shock as three Fukurodani members dived in to save the ball, failing as it hit the ground instead. 

"Hinata..." [y/n] started, glancing at the orange-headed male. "...just feinted?" 

"A feint?!" Bokuto cried out dramatically from the other side of the court. 

"You're the one who taught it to him." Akaashi said from the side, glaring at Bokuto. 

"You actually used your head. You're gonna get a fever!" Kageyama said in disbelief. 

"You are the only one person who doesn't get to say stuff like this to me," Hinata turned to glare at Kageyama. 

"Hey Hinata," [y/n] said, patting him on the back. "Great job!" 

Hinata blushed a little, "T-thank you!" 

"Damn it shrimpy!" Bokuto's shout caught Karasuno's attention as they stared at him. "We're not gonna lose either!" 

Fukurodani was still in the lead as the game went on for a while. Kageyama shocked everyone with a setter dump, earning them one point. 

_'Kageyama is doing quite well today...'_ [y/n] grinned. 

Hinata and Kageyama jumped up to block a spike when the spiker did a feint instead. Luckily, Daichi dived and managed to receive the ball, sending it back up into the sky for Karasuno to attack again. 

"Nice Daichi-san!" 

Kageyama tossed to Hinata again, who spiked it. The other team received it and sent it back to their side. Asahi managed to send it to Kageyama cleanly. 

"Nice receive, Asahi-san!" 

Hinata started running forwards before Kageyama toss. [y/n]'s eyes widened when he realised they were about to do a quick. 

Kageyama and Hinata shared a glance before he tossed to Hinata. Before anyone could process what was happening, the ball landed on the other side of the court. 

The court was silence for a while before Kageyama and Hinata turned to look at each other, screaming in disbelief. 

"You've got to be kidding me! If you were going to do that, let me know sooner, boke!" 

"I just felt like we could pull it off! Didn't you?!" 

"I did! But it was too sudden!" 

[y/n] smiled. The freak duo was back. He glanced back at the scoreboard and saw that they had caught up to Fukurodani for the first time. 

9 - 9

"Nice, Hinata, Kageyama!" 

"What was that?! That was awesome!" 

Kageyama was glaring at Hinata while he laughed. 

"But that was awesome! So cool! It stopped right before my eyes! It was like _shoop_! I thought it was coming this time, but when it actually stopped in front of you, it's sorta scary!" 

He stopped jumping and stared up at Kageyama, his eyes glinting, "You are really awesome!" 

Kageyama looked lost as he struggled for a comeback. "Wh-what... boke..." 

"Awesome! So awesome!" Hinata continued jumping up and down. 

[y/n] snickered when he saw the look on Kageyama's face. 

"Anyway, next time, make sure you-" Kageyama started, trying his best to act like his usual self but Yachi's shout stopped him. 

"You did it!" She cried, jumping. "You did it! You did it! Nice kill, Hinata! Kageyama-kun!" 

"That was amazing!" [y/n] praised them, putting his hands on their shoulders. "You guys were great back there!" 

Hinata smiled, staring at his reddish palm before shouting, "One more time!" 

"I'm so jealous!" Tanaka shouted. "Let me look cool too!" 

"We can't let them beat us," Daichi added. 

"Let's keep up!" 

"Hey hey hey!" Bokuto shouted, pointing at Karasuno. "Don't get cocky, you guys!" 

"Hey hey hey!" 

"Alright!" 

Both Hinata and Bokuto faced each other, jumping up and down as they continued to shout. 

In the midst of all of this noise, no one noticed the constant ringing from [y/n]'s phone as messages from people he knew kept flowing in. 

**[mum]**   
_[y/n], something happened-_

**[Ushijima]**   
_This is urgent, [l/n]. It's about-_

**[uncle]**   
_We might not be home when-_

**To be continued...**


	18. Fallen Angel - 16

_**The calm before the storm...** _

Karasuno verses Fukurodani. 

[y/n] wiped the beads of sweat rolling down his forehead with the back of his hand as his eyes followed the ball. Daichi received it, sending it to Kageyama. 

"Nice receive!" [y/n] shouted. 

Kageyama tossed the ball with high precision- 

However, it was too slow. Hinata had already landed on his feet before the ball reached him. It fell onto the ground, too fast for anyone to react. Everyone gaped at Kageyama in surprise. 

"Don't worry about it, Kageyama-kun," Hinata said, patting the setter on the back. However, instead of reassuring Kageyama, it somehow managed to do the opposite. 

He turned to Hinata, towering over him as he shouted angrily, "Damn it! That pisses me off!" 

"Why?! What else am I supposed to say?!" 

[y/n] clapped his hands together. "Hey guys, calm down! It's not something that happens easily." 

"[l/n]!" [y/n] heard someone shout. He turned his attention to Coach Ukai, who was waving his hand in the air, calling for [y/n]. 

"I'm going to switch you out with Tanaka. They are going to try the synchronised attack soon," he said when [y/n] jogged towards him. 

[y/n] nodded and took this as a chance to rest his poor legs. He thanked Kiyoko as he took his water bottle from her, gulping a few mouthfuls of water before he walked towards where the others who weren't playing. 

10 - 12 

"One blocker!" Fukurodani's side shouted. Someone spiked the ball, but Hinata managed to touch it. 

"One touch!" He shouted, glancing backwards as he landed on the ground. 

There was no one at the side of the court besides Kageyama, so he had no choice but to receive the ball. Nishinoya's eyes sparkled a little when he saw the opportunity to practice a libero set since Karasuno's setter can't toss. 

"Got it!" He shouted, shocking the opponents a little. 

His eyes glanced at the line to make sure he didn't step over it before he jumped, tossing the ball at the same time. Asahi appeared as he jumped up, his palm connecting with the ball, spiking it over the net and to the other side of the court. 

However, it seemed like Lady Luck wasn't on their side today. The ball landed outside of the court, giving Fukurodani one point. 

"Out?! That was so close!" Sugawara shouted beside [y/n]. 

_'Appearance can be deceiving...'_ [y/n] noted as he glanced at his senpai. 

"Sorry, my toss was a bit low. Damn it!" Nishinoya shouted and pulled at his hair in frustration. 

"I-It was fine!" Asahi said, trying to reassure the boy. "I actually think it was my mistake." 

"You need to be honest when I mess up, Asahi-san!" 

"Oh, okay... I'd appreciate it if you could toss the ball up a bit higher." 

"I know that!" 

"That's it! Keep it out!" Coach Ukai shouted encouragingly. 

The game continued and both sides were still doing quite well. However, Karasuno still couldn't break as Fukurodani continued leading the game. 

"Alright!" Nishinoya shouted as he received the incoming ball, sending it to Kageyama. 

"Now!" Daichi shouted as the ball flew in the air. Their feet moved as they got ready to attack. 

_'They are doing the synchronised attack now...'_

[y/n] couldn't helped but stare in awe as all of them ran forwards at the same time, confusing the blockers. They all jumped as if the ball was going to them, making the opponents confused as they tried to block the ball. 

Tanaka came in and spiked the ball, sending it to the other side of the court. It hit the ground and got them one point. The onlookers and the opponents gaped at them in surprise. 

[y/n] snickered at their faces. 

"All right!" Tanaka cheered loudly. He then stopped and looked down at his own hands with a smile, tears threatening to spill out from his eyes. "It feels so awesome when a spike goes through..." 

"That was a synchronised attack on first tempo..." Yamaguchi said. He turned to Sugawara and continued, "It went through so smoothly!" 

"Yeah," Sugawara nodded. "Against their three blockers, our attack, including the back row attack had four players advancing at once. They weren't able to mark all of them." He stopped and frowned. 

"Is something wrong?" Yamaguchi asked worriedly. 

"No..." Sugawara said. "There's just something I want to try out now." 

It was Asahi's turn to serve now. He did a powerful jump serve and smiled when the ball hit Fukurodani's #3's arms before flying out of the court. 

"A service ace!" [y/n] cried out in surprise. "Nice kill, Asahi-san!" 

The game continued, with Karasuno doing better than they were before in the training camp. They had managed to get a tie with Fukurodani. 

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Tanaka said during their timeout. "We're actually neck-to-neck with Fukurodani at the last part of the game." 

"Yeah!" Nishinoya agreed. 

"That doesn't mean you should get too confident," Coach Ukai said, grabbing all their attentions. "The real battle begins now." 

"Right!" 

"It's true that we should be on our guard, but it's also true that all the cogs you've created are now starting to fit together," Takeda-sensei added. "Please continue to perfect them while you're playing this match." 

"Right!" 

"Also, just as planned, you haven't been letting their ace spike too freely. Though there was that one ridiculous cut-shot... But that was because Tsukishima was able to put in one touch." 

"Oh, right," Tsukishima replied. 

"If you can keep their #4 back, we just might be able to do this. Let's finish this!" Coach Ukai ended with a smirk on his face. 

"Right!" The team answered loudly. 

The game resumed. Fukurodani got ahead of Karasuno by one point when Nishinoya failed to receive the ball. 

"Nice try!" [y/n] said encouragingly. He glanced back to the front and saw Bokuto with the ball, getting ready to serve. 

Except he seems moodier. The hyperactive ace wasn't there anymore. [y/n] furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, wondering what had happened. 

Bokuto jumped and served. Fortunately for them, the ball hit the net instead. 

"Damn it! I'm sorry!" Bokuto cried out as he stood on his knees, gripping his hair in frustration. 

"Their #4 can hit from anywhere," Daichi told [y/n]. "We're gonna use our serves to keep him in check." 

"Right," [y/n] nodded. 

The whistle was blown as [y/n] stood outside the court, bouncing the ball against the ground as he took a few seconds to calm down and visualise. 

His eyes scanned the court, [h/c] pupils analysing his opponents coldly. Bokuto was standing at the right hand side in the back. [y/n] noted down his position before he tossed the ball into the air, running a few steps forwards before he jumped and hit the ball. It flew to the other side of the court with great power, about to hit the ground before Bokuto dived and received the ball in time. 

"Bokuto-san!" Akaashi shouted. 

Bokuto ran forwards and spiked the ball, however it was blocked and sent back to Fukurodani's side. They managed to keep the ball up in the air. 

"One more time, Akaashi!" 

"Here," Akaashi said loudly as he tossed to Bokuto again. 

Asahi, Hinata and Daichi stood in front, waiting for Bokuto to jump. 

"This time, we're gonna stop it!" Asahi said to the other two. 

"Ready and go!" 

Three of them jumped. However, the ball didn't hit either one of their palms. 

"Huh?" Hinata said, his eyes widening in surprise as the ball landed on Fukurodani's side of the court. 

"It hit the net..." [y/n] trailed off with wide eyes. 

"Don't toss to me anymore!" Bokuto shouted, getting everyone else's attention. 

"What the-" Daichi started as they stared at the ace. 

His team only stared at him with a resigned look before Akaashi replied, "Alright." 

"Huh?" 

"Then please calm down in the time that I'm not tossing to you." 

"I don't know what's happening, but their ace don't seemed to be doing well," Daichi said. "Let's keep it up!" 

[y/n] turned back to the front, staring at his opponents when Ukai's voice sounded. 

"[l/n]!" He called out. 

[y/n] didn't know what was going on, but he walked out of the court anyway, switching out with Tanaka who patted him on the back. 

"You might want to answer this..." Kiyoko said, raising her hands up with [y/n]'s phone inside. 

His phone was vibrating. [y/n] had turned off the ringtone to not disturb the matches. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously when he saw Ushijima's name on the screen. 

"Thank you... but was it really that important that-" [y/n] said, rolling his eyes a little as he took the phone from Kiyoko. 

"I think you better answer it," Kiyoko cut in. "I caught a glimpse of your messages and saw this same number saying that there was something urgent going on." 

[y/n] stared at Kiyoko suspiciously before he sighed and answered the call, putting the phone to his ear. 

None of them could hear the other voice coming from the phone besides [y/n], who paled drastically at whatever the other was saying. 

Behind him, the matches continued. 

But all [y/n] could hear was his pounding heart. 

[y/n] collapsed onto the ground on his knees, dropping his phone in the process as he stared at the wooden floor, trying to process what he heard. 

He heard someone called out his name. He could feel someone shaking him to try and pull him out from the frozen state. 

But all he could hear was Ushijima's words, repeating over and over again in his head. 

No. 

He can't lose him again. 

**To be continued...**


	19. Fallen Angel - 17

_"_ _[l/n], your brother jumped off a building."_

[y/n]'s mouth hanged open as he stared at the ground, his vision fading in and fading out as his chest tightened. 

He can't lose him again. 

"[l/n]!" [y/n] managed to break out of his trance, his head snapping to the direction of the voice. Kiyoko bent down beside [y/n], his phone in her hand. "Are you okay?" She asked, her soothing voice managed to calm [y/n] a little as he nodded slowly. 

He slowly took back his phone and pressed it to his ear, shaking a little as he waited for Ushijima to continue. 

_"He is alive and in the hospital right now... but in a critical condition."_

Alive. 

[y/n] let out a breath of relief, calming down enough to be able to talk. "S-so... he's okay? And... and is mum and uncle with him?" 

_"Yes..."_

[y/n] conversed with Ushijima for a while, nodding every few seconds as Ushijima updated him with [b/n]'s current situation. 

_"I will update you if anything new happens."_

"Thank you Ushijima-san," [y/n] said. He let out a sigh before continuing, "I guess I will see you soon." He waited a while before he hanged up the call, taking a few deep breaths before standing up. 

"Is everything okay?" Kiyoko asked worriedly. 

"Umm... yeah..." [y/n] trailed off nervously. "It was just some family stuff..." 

Lies.

"Go get some rest," Coach Ukai suggested. "Whatever happened must had been quite shocking to you." 

[y/n] nodded and thanked Coach Ukai and Kiyoko before he walked to where the others were standing. None of them said anything, but he knew they were staring at him worriedly whenever they thought he wasn't looking. 

A high pitched sound sounded, signalling the end of the Fukurodani verses Karasuno match. Fukurodani had won, with Karasuno lacking by two points. [y/n]'s expression was grim as he followed his team to do their last penalty before the barbecue treat. 

They finished their penalty and was resting when someone patted [y/n] on the shoulder. "Hey, is everything okay?" Kageyama asked curiously. He sat down next to [y/n] as he waited for his answer. 

"Y-yeah..." [y/n] sighed. "I just... family stuff..." 

Kageyama didn't questioned further, seeing that [y/n] didn't really want to talk about it. They sat in silence, until Hinata's shout broke it. 

"BARBECUE!" 

At Hinata's excitement, Nishinoya and Tanaka joined in, jumping around despite being exhausted a few seconds ago. [y/n] slowly smiled as he stood up, following his team out of the gymnasium. 

Most of the barbecue props were already set up. The teams helped out a little, setting everything up properly before the barbecue feast started. As the meat was roasted in front of their eyes, many people couldn't help but drool at the sight of such delicious food. 

Everyone gathered around together in their respective teams, chopsticks and plates in hand, ready to gobble up the delicious meat. 

"Thanks for the food!" They shouted before they started digging in. 

[y/n] wasn't really in the mood. He ate a few slices of meat before walking away from the crowd, choosing to seat at a corner underneath a tree before he closed his eyes. 

_"[n/n]!" [b/n] cried, hurrying towards the boy huddled in the corner of the room, with a volleyball in hand. "Come on, we have to practice!"_

_"Nii-chan..." [y/n] whined as he was unwillingly dragged out of the house._

_"If you want to keep your starting position, I suggest you better keep playing!" [b/n] laughed. They reached their house's compound, a small space, just enough for the brothers to practice digging and tossing with each other._

_They played together, laughing loudly as [b/n] slipped in some jokes and gossips he had heard from the team._

_"...and then Iwaizumi chased Oikawa around with a chair-"_

_"Wait," [y/n] wheezed, managing to regain himself just in time to receive the ball and sent it back to [b/n]. "Are third years so violent?! I don't wanna be a third year anymore! Where did Iwaizumi-senpai get the chair from anyways? I don't remember there being one in the court yesterday."_

_"The chair came from outside the court. Apparently, Iwaizumi had taken the time to grab a chair from one of the classrooms just to hunt Oikawa down for showing those silly pictures," [b/n] grinned. "It's just Iwaizumi! I'm not violent at all! Plus, you can't really avoid being a third year."_

_They laughed for a while, before they fell into a comfortable silence._

_Until [b/n] broke it. "I'm going to Shiratorizawa next year..."_

_"Shiratorizawa?!" [y/n] perked up in interest. "That powerhouse school?"_

_"That powerhouse school," [b/n] nodded. "And apparently, Ushijima Wakatoshi is going there too."_

_"Uwah!" [y/n] gasped. "That Ushijima?! He's going there too?! Wouldn't that mean...?"_

_"Uh huh," [b/n] nodded, standing up proudly. He caught the ball in his hands before he continued. "Your wonderful brother gets a chance to be in the same team as Ushijima!" He said smugly._

_"Just you wait!" [y/n] cried, sticking his tongue out at [b/n]. "I will join you too and grab your starting position! You wouldn't be able to play with Ushijima then."_

_"Well... if you can grab the position of a more experienced player, that is. I bet you can't!" He said, proceeding to stick his tongue out before running back into the house._

_"[b/n]!" [y/n] cried out, chasing after his brother._

_"[l/n]!"_

"[l/n]!"

[y/n]'s eyes snapped open to find Akaashi. He rubbed his eyes and slowly sat up, realising that the sun was already setting. 

"Your team is leaving soon," Akaashi said, gesturing at his back. 

[y/n] glanced behind his shoulders, finding the teams greeting each other goodbye. 

"I definitely fell asleep for a long time," [y/n] said before he yawned. He slowly stood up, using the tree to help balance himself before he started walking towards his team. 

"[l/n]..." Akaashi called out. 

[y/n] stopped. He slowly turned around, tilting his head sideways a little in confusion as he waited for Akaashi to continue. 

"I saw what happened earlier... during the match... Are you okay?" Akaashi asked awkwardly. 

[y/n] stared at Akaashi for a while, before he chuckled. "Yeah, I'm fine..." He glanced away and stared at the crowd before turning back to Akaashi with a sad smile. "Just some family matters..." 

Lies.

_"NOTHING IS OKAY!"_

_"I hate you!"_

[y/n] blinked a few times to snap out of the trance, smiling at Akaashi before he turned away, preparing to walk towards his team. 

"You know... you can tell me, right?" Akaashi said. "I'm here..." 

At that moment, it was just the two of them. The crowd suddenly disappeared, leaving them in a peaceful silence. The soft breeze caressed [y/n]'s face as he stood there, back facing Akaashi. A single tear fell from his cheek as he struggled to calm himself. 

"I know..." 

Yet, before he could say anything else, Daichi's voice startled them. 

"[l/n]!" He called out, waving his arm in the air. "We are leaving soon!" 

"Goodbye Akaashi," [y/n] said before he started to walk. A hand grabbed his arm before a paper was pushed into his palm. Akaashi smiled softly before walking away. 

[y/n] watched as he walked away before walking away himself, joining his team again. He stuffed the small piece of folded paper into his pocket to read it later. 

"Coming!" He shouted, smiling at the ever so energetic Hinata waved his arms in the hand to grab [y/n]'s attention. 

For now, everything is okay. 

At least that was what [y/n] was desperately trying to convince himself. 

***

The training camp ended with a blast. 

They greeted each other goodbye. 

"Well, see ya next time," Kuroo said, smiling at the Karasuno team. 

"Yeah, see you next time." Daichi returned. 

Karasuno entered their bus, ready to return home. 

[y/n] chose to sit alone again. He draped his jacket over him, relaxing to the comfortable chatter. [y/n] slowly took out the piece of paper, unfolding it slowly. 

_xxxxxxxxx - Akaashi's number._

_Don't suffer alone._

**To be continued...**


	20. Fallen Angel - 18

It was already morning when they reached Miyagi. The team was given the day to do their own practices. [y/n] requested to leave early instead. 

He changed into his casual clothings before walking out of the school with a dejected look, phone in hand as he followed the map to the nearby hospital. 

It took him about 20 minutes to reach the hospital. He glanced up at the big doorway, staring at the people coming in and out as his past experience in the hospital flashed before his eyes. 

_"NOTHING IS OKAY!"_

_"I hate you!"_

[y/n] sighed, shaking his head to get rid of those thoughts. He continued walking, reaching the counter. He smiled at the lady sitting in front of him and requested to visit [l/n] [b/n]. 

"Room 240." 

"Thank you," [y/n] said, bowing at the lady before he started walking towards the room he was directed to. [y/n] couldn't help but shiver nervously the closer he got to the room. 

_'238... 239'_

240\. 

[y/n]'s eyes lingered on the number plate plastered onto the wooden door. He took in a deep breath, before raising his arm slowly towards the door knob, placing his palm on the cold knob before twisting it sideways. 

As the door swung open, he caught a glimpse of his brother. He had a heart monitor beside him, monitoring his heartbeat and multiple wires were connected to him. [y/n] gulped when he saw the bandages that covered [b/n]'s body, stained with blood. 

Everything... seemed like last year. 

"It's okay... He isn't awake..." [y/n] whispered, trying his best to convince himself as he stepped into the room. The door behind him slowly closed, leaving [y/n] alone with his brother's unconscious body. 

"Hello [l/n]," a deep voice greeted him. 

[y/n] jumped, nearly screaming as he turned around to face a certain olive-haired male, sitting on a chair at the side of the room. 

"Ushijima-san!" [y/n] shouted, before slapping his hand onto his mouth, glancing at his brother to make sure the loud noise didn't wake him up. [y/n] didn't really feel like dealing with [b/n] right now. "What are you doing here?" He said, in a reasonable volume as he walked towards Ushijima, stopping a few inches in front of him. 

"I heard from your mother that you will be back today, and thought that you might go to visit your brother at the first given chance you had..." 

"And you decided to wait for me here?!" [y/n] cut Ushijima off with a surprise look. 

Ushijima blinked at [y/n], silent for a few seconds before he asked, "Is there... something wrong with that?" 

"No, no... I'm just surprised," [y/n] admitted before he walked towards his brother. 

[y/n] stared at his brother. [y/n] hadn't seen his brother so calm before. Granted, he didn't really see his brother on a daily basis either ever since what happened before... 

Tears started blurring his vision. [y/n] rubbed the tears with the back of his hand, trying his best not to break down in front of Ushijima. He sniffled a little, before turning his attention away from [b/n]. 

"I'm glad he's okay..." [y/n] sighed, plopping down next to Ushijima, in the chair beside him. He avoided having to look at his brother, choosing to stare at the vase sitting on the small side table beside the hospital bed. Irises sat in the vase, blooming beautifully next to a pale looking male. 

[y/n] almost wanted to chuckle at the irony. 

"He will be alright," Ushijima stated. 

[y/n] found his words assuring. It calmed him a little. [y/n] rested for a while, closing his eyes, the tiredness from yesterday slowly catching up to him. He then remembered that the paper Akaashi gave him was still sitting in his pocket. [y/n] took it out, studying the creased paper in his hands before unfolding. 

_Don't suffer alone._

[y/n] smiled a little before he unlocked his phone. Research on disabled volleyball glared back at him as he scrolled through the different websites, eyes scrunched up in concentration, forgetting about the other male sitting beside him, who glanced at his phone. 

"Sitting volleyball?" Ushijima's voice rang out beside [y/n]. He jumped, eyes widening when he remembered about Ushijima. 

"Yes..." [y/n] said, trailing off. "I thought maybe [b/n] will get better if he was able to play volleyball again..." 

"That's quite thoughtful of you." 

"T-thank y-you," [y/n] stammered. He went back to his phone, concentrating on the information on is screen before Ushijima's voice caught his attention again. 

"If you're looking for teams for [l/n] to join, I might be able to help you," Ushijima said. 

"Really?" [y/n] gasped, his face lighting up. 

"I have connections..." 

"Thank you, Ushijima-san!" [y/n] beamed. His smile softened as he glanced back at his phone. "I-I just really hope [b/n] will get better. He'd always wanted to be a professional volleyball player after high school." 

They fell into a comfortable silence before Ushijima broke it. 

"Would you like to join my teammates and I for lunch?" 

"Huh?" [y/n] turned to stare at Ushijima in visible confusion. Lunch with his teammates? [y/n] had never met the Shiratorizawa members even though they had been [b/n]'s friends last time. [b/n] never really brought his friends home, nor did he walked with any friends when he came to pick [y/n] up. Besides their volleyball plays, Shiratorizawa was a completely foreign land to [y/n]. 

"You look... depressed. I thought lunch might distract you a little and cheer you up." 

[y/n] sighed. He didn't really have anything going on today. [y/n]'s only plan was to visit his brother and make sure he's okay. 

Lunch won't hurt... 

"Alright then..." [y/n] said, nodding his head.

*** 

The trip to the restaurant didn't take very long. Ushijima and [y/n] were the first to arrive, choosing a big table at the corner of the restaurant. 

"They sell really good ramen here," Ushijima told [y/n]. "You should try them." 

They sat beside each other, staring at the menu in silence as they waited for Ushijima's teammates to come. 

"Ahh! Wakatoshi-kun! Aye...? Who's that?" A voice greeted them. 

[y/n] glanced up from the menu, finding a few people, wearing their Shiratorizawa jacket, standing in front of them. A red-headed male stood at the front, [y/n] guessed that the greeting came from him as he studied the members one-by-one in awe. 

The strongest team in Miyagi. 

"[l/n]'s brother. I invited him," Ushijima explained. 

"[l/n]'s brother...?" The red-headed male trailed off with an amuse look. "You mean that Fallen Angel from Kitagawa Daiichi?" 

"I'm [l/n] [y/n], nice to meet you." [y/n] said. He stood up and bowed at them. "Sorry for interrupting your team's lunch." 

"It's okay," a blond male said, waving his hand. He pulled out a chair and took a seat, the rest of the members following. 

"Semisemi couldn't make it, said he had something to do last minute..." The redhead laughed. He had decided to take a seat beside [y/n], leaning closer to [y/n] as his dark red eyes studied [y/n]. 

"You look a lot like your brother," he chuckled. "Though smaller." 

[y/n] frowned at the continuous mention of his brother. 

"I'm Tendou Satori," he continued. He opened his mouth to say something else but was cut off by Ushijima. 

"Would you like the same, Tendou?" 

Tendou turned his attention to Ushijima. [y/n] felt himself relax a little without the redhead's attention weighing him down, turning his attention back to the rest of the team. 

After they ordered their food, Tendou decided to take up the job to introduce everyone to [y/n]. 

"That's Shirabu," he said, pointing at the blond male with a serious look. 

Shirabu greeted him with a small wave, before rolling his eyes at Tendou. 

"Goshiki," Tendou continued, gesturing at the black-haired male with a weird bowl cut. 

"I'm the future ace of Shiratorizawa, nice to meet you!" Goshiki greeted [y/n] enthusiastically. Goshiki kind of reminded [y/n] of Hinata. He smiled at Goshiki, nodding at him as a greeting. 

He caught a glimpse of Shirabu rolling his eyes again at Goshiki's antics before returning to the conversation he was having. 

"That's Reon," he said, gesturing at the male sitting beside Shirabu. 

"Kawanishi." 

"Yamagata." 

Once Tendou introduced them all to [y/n], their food arrived. 

Tendou was quite creepy earlier on when [y/n] just met him. But after a while, he appreciated the redhead for helping with the ice-breaking. Tendou had made sure to include [y/n] in their conversations, not letting the [h/c] male to be left out by the other members. 

[y/n] didn't do much talking, but his mood was lifted up slightly. It reminded him of Karasuno, and the times they walked to get pork buns together. 

After lunch, it was time for them to leave. Shiratorizawa still had training going on. They stood in front of the restaurant, greeting [y/n] goodbye before they part ways. 

"It's nice knowing you, [y/n]!" Tendou said. "Can't wait to beat you guys during the Interhigh." 

"That's rude, Tendou-san," Yamagata stated. "You could have been more polite." 

Tendou merely waved at Yamagata, ignoring his words. 

[y/n] smiled. "Well, it's nice knowing you guys too. I can't wait to beat you guys too." 

"Ehh, ehh! Don't get cocky now!" Tendou said. 

"Says the guy who said the same thing before," [y/n] heard Shirabu's grumble. 

"I can't wait to show you those super straight shots I've been practicing!" Goshiki said loudly, eyes gleaming brightly. 

"I can't wait to see them either, Goshiki," he smiled at the future ace. 

"We have to go soon," Ushijima said, glancing at his phone. "Or coach will make us run a hundred laps around the school again." 

"You guys sure do have a demon coach," [y/n] shivered a little at the thought of doing a hundred laps around a school as big as Shiratorizawa. 

[y/n] waved at the members as walk off. Before Ushijima walked off too, [y/n] stopped him. 

"Thank you!" He said, bowing at Ushijima. 

"You're welcome," he answered, his lips curving up a little to show that he was smiling. "See you at the Interhigh, [l/n]." 

[y/n] smiled as watched as the team slowly disappeared, turning around the corner. 

"See you at the Interhigh too, I guess..." 

**To be continued...**


	21. Fallen Angel - 19

August 11. 

The Japanese National High School Volleyball Tournament, otherwise known as the High School Spring Tournament. The first preliminaries of the Miyagi Qualifiers starts today. 

[y/n] stepped out of the bus with the rest of his team, trembling in excitement as he studied the building in front of him. His eyes scanned the crowd, glancing at the schools that were crowded around the entrance, having just arrived at the gymnasium around. 

He was finally here. 

A sudden figure zoomed past him, catching [y/n]'s attention. He realised it was Hinata from his bright orange hair, holding his stomach with a sick look as he rushed through the crowd. 

"Is he okay?" [y/n] asked Ennoshita worriedly, pointing at Hinata from afar. 

"Don't worry, it's quite normal. Hinata will be fine during the match," Ennoshita replied, waving his hand with a small smile. 

[y/n] shrugged, deciding to trust the older male's words as he followed the team into the gymnasium. On the way, Hinata came back to them, looking better than before, though he was quite pale and sickly looking. 

They stayed at the corner of the hallway, resting and preparing for their first match. [y/n] sat in a butterfly pose, scrolling through his phone. Most of them were quiet and deep in their own thoughts, mentally preparing themselves to face off their opponents later. Yamaguchi and Hinata were trembling badly, probably due to nerves. Tsukishima merely just watched them with a bored look, not bothering to try and comfort them or something. 

Well, that's Tsukishima. Nobody really expects him to comfort someone. 

**[akaashi]**   
_Good luck!_

**[y/n]**   
_Thank you Akaashi-san. Good luck too!_

**[mum]**   
_Good luck [y/n]! I'm so proud of you!_

**[y/n]**   
_Haha! Thanks! I promise to come back with satisfying victories! And then you can boost all you want about your 'amazing athletic son'!_

[y/n] smiled, locking his phone before stuffing it into his bag. He stood up, glancing around to find three other males from other school, staring at Karasuno and talking between themselves. Their eyes briefly met when the familiar nickname 'Fallen Angel' was heard from one of them before the three glanced away quickly, embarrassed to have been caught gossiping about Karasuno. 

[y/n] rolled his eyes before he turned his attention to Hinata, who walked in front of him, towards Yamaguchi and Tsukishima. 

"H-Hinata, are you okay?" Yachi asked worriedly. 

"Yep, I'm fine," Hinata said, assuring Yachi. "I threw up on the way here, so I feel better." 

Tsukishima smirked, "Of course you'd feel sick after eating all those pork bowls for breakfast." 

It irked Hinata, who shot back at Tsukishima angrily. "It's normal to eat pork cutlets on game days!" 

"And by 'normal', you mean..." 

Before Tsukishima could finish, Kageyama cut in angrily. "Boke! Hinata, you stupid dumbass!" 

"I-I feel like I'm going to puke too, after remembering Hinata puking..." Yamaguchi said, covering his mouth with his hand. 

"Huh?" Tsukishima said, turning to look at Yamaguchi in surprise. "Go to the bathroom, already!" 

"M-my nerves are getting to me too..." Asahi said from behind [y/n]. He turned to find Asahi trying his best to hold his breath to prevent himself from puking. 

"I thought you were busy concentrating, but you were actually trying not to puke?!" Sugawara shouted. 

Nishinoya and Tanaka were laughing about Hinata puking in the bus the last time they had a match with Seijoh. 

[y/n] sighed, moving as far away as he can in case someone starts puking. 

Is this really Karasuno?! 

***

The whistle blown, signalling the end of the match between two teams. 

Karasuno stood outside in the hallways, with Daichi in front. He turned back to his teammates, stating, "The previous match is over. Let's go!" 

"Yeah!" The team shouted as they entered the hall. 

[y/n] walked by Kageyama's side, occasionally glancing at Hinata. 

Earlier on, Hinata had returned to the bathroom, looking really determined than before. The boy who was trying his best to not puke was replaced by a determine looking boy. [y/n] didn't question Hinata about what happened when he went to the bathroom. He was just grateful that Hinata didn't feel the urge to puke anymore. 

As they entered loudly, the members of the Ohgiminami team turned to glare at Karasuno. Hinata started to tremble, standing behind Tanaka as he glared back at the members. 

"Looks like Ohgiminami's team is full of punks," he said, with his familiar constipated look on his face. 

"Did that really come out of your mouth?" Sugawara asked, taking a few steps backwards as he stared at Tanaka. "Stop making that face." 

After a while, they started their warm-ups. The team lined up to spike the ball tossed by Kageyama. [y/n] heard the Ohgiminami team insult Tanaka and rolled his eyes. Really, they should learn that insulting Tanaka would probably only fuel him to do better. 

"Your shaved head is seriously lame. Seriously, like seriously, seriously..." 

Tanaka had a bodhisattva face, staring back at the people who insulted him. "I'm going forth. Let us play a good game." 

Kageyama tossed the ball before Tanaka ran forwards and spiked the ball, slamming it down hard, shouting at the same time. "Take this, damn it!" 

"Nice kill!" Kageyama said. The two people who had insulted Tanaka jumped a little from the powerful spike. 

Tanaka put on the bodhisattva face again, bowing at Kageyama, "Thank you for that opportunity." 

It was [y/n]'s turn. Kageyama and his eyes met, sharing a glance before they nodded at each other. 

_'Don't you dare look down on us...'_

[y/n] ran and jumped, swinging his arm forwards, his palm meeting the ball before he did a super straight line-shot, shocking the onlookers. 

_'For we will win and go to the Nationals...'_

He landed on his feet, hair shadowing his face, intimidating his opponents. [y/n] glanced up, cold and hawklike [e/c] eyes meeting each of the Ohgiminami's team members' eyes. 

Kageyama smirked from the sidelines, recognising that cold look in [y/n]'s eyes. 

The Angel is back. 

*** 

After the warm-ups, the game officially starts. 

Ohgiminami VS Karasuno. 

The teams lined up at the end of their own respective side of the court, staring at each other with burning determination. 

"Let's play!" The two teams shouted, bowing at each other. 

"Listen up," Coach Ukai said before the game begun. Karasuno was crowded in front of him as he gave his pep talk. "All of their third-years are already gone, but their power has always been with their second-years. They also always won straight through the first round. Don't let your guard down! Make sure you're especially cautious of their #1 on the left!" 

"Right!" 

Takeda stepped out from behind Ukai before saying, "Since the Interhigh prelims ended, you've taken unfamiliar challenges and you haven't been in sync. On top of that, you've lost about seventy practice games against the powerhouse schools from Kanto." 

[y/n] sighed at the familiar memory, flinching at thought of the word 'penalty'. 

"But your new weapons that kept failing at first are finally starting to take shape. Please get a win that makes up for all of the frustration you felt." 

"Right!" 

Karasuno gathered around, hands on each other back as Daichi shouted, "Karasuno, fight!" 

[y/n] stood at the left front, beside Kageyama and in front of Hinata. Their team was first to serve. 

"Nice serve, Asahi-san!" 

Asahi took in a deep breath after the whistle blow, his eyes lingering on the opponents for a while before he threw the ball up into the air, running a few steps forwards before connecting his palm with the ball and slamming it over the net. The ball hit the opponent's side of the court before they had time to react. 

Everyone gaped in surprise at the no-touch ace, before Karasuno started to cheer. 

"Alright!" 

The game went on really quickly. Karasuno was doing quite well against Ohgiminami. The game felt quite easy after they had played against powerhouse schools before. 

"Left!" [y/n] shouted at Kageyama. He started running forwards, jumping up as Kageyama tossed. For a moment, everything happened in slow motion. [y/n]'s eyes met the blocker, his cold [h/c] eyes making the blocker shudder. If looks could kill, he would already be six feet under. [y/n] spiked the ball hard, sending it over the net. The ball hit the floor with a loud _boom_ before flying back high up into the air. 

"Nice kill, [l/n]!" 

The game continued with Karasuno in the lead. 

11 - 16

Daichi managed to make an amazing save when the spiker did a feint, shocking the crowd and Ohgi Miami. 

"Daichi-san, nice!" 

Asahi spiked the ball hard, sending it over the net. Ohgiminami managed to keep the ball in the air. The setter tossed the ball, sending it to the spiker. 

Tsukishima and Kageyama were already there, jumping up to block the ball. 

Ohgiminami's #4 spiked the ball, but it was blocked by Tsukishima. Karasuno scored one point, the team cheering loudly. 

It was Kageyama's turn to serve again, the ball hitting #4's arms before flying out of the court. 

A service ace. 

"Nice Kageyama!" 

At this point, Karasuno was already taking the first set. 

16 - 24

They only needed one more point before the first set will be theirs. 

As the opposite team's captain spiked the ball. Nishinoya was there to receive it, sending it to Kageyama. The captain's eyes widened when Hinata, who had jumped up to block his spike earlier immediately started running to the other side of the court. 

And before anyone could comprehend anything, Hinata had already jumped and spiked the ball. It hit the ground before bouncing out of the court, scoring Karasuno one point. 

16 - 25

They won. 

"Alright!" The team cheered happily. 

"Alright!" Hinata shouted loudly once he landed on his feet. 

"Nice kill, Hinata!" [y/n] said, hitting Hinata's back. 

The teams gathered around, resting and preparing for the next set when a loud shout got everyone's attention. They turned to see someone from the second floor, staring down at Ohgiminami, giving a few words of encouragement. 

Suddenly, the team captain walked out of the group, closing his eyes before he shouted out loud. 

"We're going to beat Karasuno! We're gonna get through the prelims! We're going to fight Shiratorizawa!" 

His words seemed to have cheered up the team as they started laughing at him. 

Tanaka turned to Ohgiminami, shouting back, "Challenge accepted!" 

[y/n] smiled as the teams got ready to get back to the match. He placed his bottle on the ground, next to the others before standing up. 

He glanced back at his opponents, the determination look they had fuelling [y/n]'s excitement. 

Let the second set commence. 

**To be continued...**


	22. Fallen Angel - 20

It was obvious who was winning. 

[y/n] used the back of his hand to wipe away the bead of sweat trickling down his forehead, eyes following the ball as Daichi received it, sending it to Kageyama who tossed it to Hinata. 

Another spike. Another point. 

"Alright!" The team cheered. 

The team gathered around, as they discussed their next tactic. As they went back to their position, [y/n]'s eyes scanned the crowd watching them from the second floor. Yachi's eyes and his met briefly, before they smiled at each other. [y/n] was about to look away when he caught sight of a suspicious man, wearing a cap and sunglasses to hide his some of his features. He stood behind Yachi, seemingly invisible to the people around him. 

[y/n] stared at the figure for a while and the figure seemingly stared back, the side of his lips curving up into a smirk before taking off his sunglasses- 

No. It can't be. 

[y/n] stumbled a few steps backwards, his eyes widening in surprise. 

He's gone. 

He's supposed to be gone. 

"[l/n]!" Daichi shouted, grabbing the [h/c] male's attention. 

[y/n] turned around to glance at Daichi, finding the rest of the team staring at him expectantly. "Sorry..." [y/n] replied sheepishly, trying his best to shake off the uneasy feeling. He glanced back at the second floor, behind Yachi, only to find no one. Yachi gave him a worried look before she glanced behind her, confused. 

_'It's okay... You just imagined it...'_

The game continued with Karasuno serving. The other team spike and Daichi managed to receive it and sent it to Kageyama. 

"Daichi-san, nice receive!" 

_'Those [h/c] eyes....'_

Kageyama tossed it high up into the air as Asahi came from behind Hinata and spiked it. The ball hit the other side of the court loudly and the referee blew his whistle. 

_'That smirk...'_

It was Kageyama's turn to serve. 

_'I know him...'_

"Alright!" The team shouted, cheering loudly. Kageyama had just gotten a service ace for the team and now they were at match point. 

"One more, Kageyama! Nice serve!" 

Kageyama's serve was as intense as ever, though [y/n] wasn't paying much attention. [y/n] was trying very hard not to crumble down in front of so many people. 

_**'You can't ever forget that person....'** _

_"[y/n]!" [b/n] whispered, shaking the young boy awake._

_"Huh?" [y/n] sounded, slowly cracking his eyes open to find his brother. "Wha-" [y/n] glanced at the clock beside his bed, the numbers on the clock glowing dimly in the dark room._

_"We gotta go [n/n]," [b/n] whispered, dragging the boy out of the room._

_"But it's only 3 in the morning, Nii-chan..."_

_They entered the living room, to find their mother already there, hurriedly stuffing their possessions into the big bulky bags sitting on the floor._

_"What's going on?"_

_Nobody answered him. Instead, his mother called him to help pack quickly. And before he knew it, they were out of the house, running on the streets, away from the home [y/n] grew up in._

_**'That made your mother and brother's life a living hell.'** _

"[l/n]!" 

Daichi's shout brought [y/n] back into reality. He blinked a few times, realising the Ohgiminami's team captain had spiked the ball, sending it to [y/n]'s way. 

[y/n] gritted his teeth and dived forwards, managing to keep the ball up in the air. The ball made its way to Kageyama, though it was a little bit shaky. 

[y/n] mentally beat himself for losing focus on the game as he watched Hinata and Kageyama perform their freak attack. 

Ohgiminami's #5 jumped up to block, but he wasn't fast enough. The ball made its way to the other side of the court and hit the ground. 

It was silent for a while as everyone stared at where the ball landed before the referee blew his whistle, signalling the end of the game. 

25 - 13 

Karasuno won. 

"Alright!" 

[y/n] quickly hurried to grab his phone, his hands trembling as he struggled to text his mother. His teammates watched from the sidelines, worried for their wing spiker who seemed a little off halfway through the game. 

**[y/n]**   
_Mum, I saw him._

**[y/n]**   
_He's here._

***

Karasuno stood at the doorway, watching the game happening in front of them. Yachi and Hinata were trembling t the sight of a 201cm tall player from Kakugawa. 

[y/n] ate his banana, eyes on the game in front of him, though his mind was somewhere faraway from reality. The message from his mother had reassured him a little, though [y/n] still couldn't get the figure out his mind. 

"You okay?" Kageyama asked from beside [y/n]. 

[y/n] nodded before smiling a little. "Yeah, I thought I saw someone before... But it's nothing much." He glanced back at the game as the whistle was blown, signalling Kakugawa's win. 

"I guess we know who we are playing next," Kageyama stated. 

[y/n] sighed as his eyes landed on the tall player again. "His height would be a problem later." 

It was a while later when Karasuno gathered up in front of the board that showed the schools competing against each other. Daichi gave his pep talk, trying his best to live everyone's mood. 

"If we win the next game, we'll get through the prelims and continue on to the qualifiers in October. We're gonna get through no matter what!" 

"Yeah!" The team shouted back enthusiastically. 

At the same time, Kakugawa's #9 walked past them. Hinata gasped loudly, staring up at the player. [y/n] himself couldn't help but gulped, seeing how tall the player was. 

"Two meters..." Hinata shivered as his eyes followed the player. 

"201cm and 162cm, huh..." Yamaguchi started, staring down at Hinata with a thoughtful look.

"I'm 163 if you round it up!" Hinata snapped back at Yamaguchi angrily. 

"201cm and 162cm..." Tsukishima started, appearing behind Yamaguchi. "There's a 40cm difference." 

"Listen!" 

Yachi appeared beside Tsukishima. "F-forty centimetres is the same size as Ketty-chan. That's not that big," she pointed out, trying to cheer Hinata up. 

"Tekachu is also 40cm," Yamaguchi said. 

"So is a fujikujira," Tsukishima stated. 

"Fujikujira? What's that?" 

"It's some kind of shark..." 

During the conversation, they started walking into the hall. Hinata trailed behind them, dragging his feet with an unreadable expression. 

"I... want to combine with that shark," Hinata suddenly stated. 

"What?" Kageyama voiced, glancing backwards at Hinata. 

"If I combined with a fujikujira, I'd be two meters tall..." 

"Hey, what are you talking about?" Kageyama stared at Hinata for a while, before continuing, "Are you really scared?" 

"Let's go!" Daichi shouted. The team started heading in. [y/n] trailed behind them, taking in a deep breath as the smell of air salonpas made its way into his nostrils. 

_'It's okay... He doesn't matter for now...'_

[y/n] turned his attention back to Kakugawa, studying his opponents. 

_'What matters... is that we win this match.'_

"No matter what." 

"Huh?" 

[y/n] jumped around to face Hinata, staring at him in confusion. They both stared at each other for a while, Hinata in confusion and [y/n], startled. 

"Hinata! [l/n]!" 

"R-right!" Hinata shouted. Both of them hastily returned to their teammates side. 

"Let's go!" Daichi shouted. 

"Right!" The team let go of each other, turning around to glare at their opponents. 

Karasuno High verses Kakugawa High. 

High offence verses a 201cm giant. 

They will win. 

No matter what. 

**To be continued...**


	23. Fallen Angel - 21

"Let's play!" 

[y/n]'s eyes lingered on Kakugawa's #9, his [h/c] eyes watching the tall player intensely as Tsukishima got ready to serve behind him. 

"Nice serve, Tsukishima!" 

The ball made its way over the net and Kakugawa's #4 received the ball, sending it over to their setter. 

"Hyakuzawa!" The setter shouted. The tall male started running forwards as [y/n], Kageyama and Hinata stood in front of him, preparing to jump and block the ball. 

They jumped the same time Hyakuzawa jumped, ready to block the course of the ball- 

Only for it to fly over them. 

[y/n]'s eyes widened as the sound of the ball hitting the ground sounded behind him. Nobody had been able to react fast enough to receive the cross. 

"Damn it, his height is going to be more of a problem than I thought," said [y/n] to Kageyama, clenching his fists in frustration as he glared at Hyakuzawa. "We better do something about it fast." 

It was Kakugawa's side to serve. The ball flew over to Daichi, who received it. Though it went back to Kakugawa's side instead. 

"Coming in from the left!" Daichi shouted as Hyakuzawa started running. 

"Hyakuzawa!" 

[y/n], Hinata and Kageyama jumped up again to block, though Hyakuzawa spiked the ball towards where Nishinoya was standing. 

Nishinoya managed to receive the ball. "Sorry, cover!" 

[y/n] jumped in, his eyes glancing backwards to see Hinata free. "Hinata!" [y/n] shouted, sending it over to Hinata with an underhand dig. 

Three blockers jumped up in response to Hinata, who raised his right hand, preparing to do a dink to get over the blockers. The dink was almost successful, until the ball hit Hyakuzawa's palm. For a moment, everyone froze, staring at the ball in surprise. Before they could react, it fell back into their court, giving one point to Kakugawa. 

"Don't mind, don't mind," Daichi said, trying to reassure Hinata. 

"Next, next!" 

"Alright, let's get this one!" 

[y/n] turned his attention on Hyakuzawa, eyeing the male. If Karasuno don't find a way to counter this now, this will certainly be their doom. 

_'Thinking about his plays...'_

[y/n]'s eyes narrowed before he turned back to his teammates. 

_'He isn't very good...'_

[y/n] walked towards Daichi, patting his captain on the shoulder to grab his attention before whispering to him. "I've noticed that Kakugawa's #9 isn't a very good player, probably due to him having just started playing volleyball... His team seemed to be protecting him from having to receive the ball and..." 

[y/n] hesitated, turning to glance at Hyakuzawa before turning back to Daichi. "I'm not sure about this yet... but I think he can only hit a cross." 

"I think it's better for us to continue to watch him for now, until we are sure..." Daichi said, nodding his head. 

"If we can't block, then we will have to receive his spikes instead..." 

The whistle was blown and it was Kakugawa's side to serve again. Daichi managed to receive the ball, sending it to Kageyama smoothly. 

"Left!" [y/n] shouted, starting to run forwards before he jumped. Three blockers towered over him, staring down at him. [y/n] gritted his teeth and spiked the ball hard. One of the blockers managed to touch it, sending it flying on top of the net. 

"Up! Above the net!" 

"Push it, Hinata!" 

Both Hyazukawa and Hinata jumped at the same time, though with Hyazukawa's height, he managed to touch the ball first, pushing it down as the ball landed back into Karasuno's side of the court. 

Kakugawa served again. 

"Out!" Nishinoya shouted. Nobody moved as they watched the ball flew out of the court, hitting the ground outside the court. 

"Right!" 

It was Kageyama's turn to serve. His intense serve was received by their libero. The ball flew to their setter, who tossed it to Hyazukawa again. 

Hyazukawa spiked the ball. It landed deep in Karasuno's court, where there were no one preparing to defend. 

But [y/n] merely smirked. His theory was confirmed. 

"I see... We're going to have to do something about that," Daichi said, smiling a little as he watched their team. 

Nishinoya, Daichi and [y/n] shared a glance, nodding at each other. 

Takeda-sensei called a timeout. The team gathered around in front of Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei. They took this time to rest for a while as they discussed tactics. 

"No matter how high I jump, he keeps hitting the ball from above me," Hinata said, frowning. "What do I do?" 

"Well, calm down," Daichi merely replied, smiling. 

"Shoyo," Nishinoya started. "Volleyball isn't just about mid-air battles." 

"Huh?" 

"[y/n] and I've noticed something," Daichi said, turning the team's attention back to him. The team gathered around closer as Daichi started to talk. 

"After watching their previous warm-up, and how they play, it appears that Kakugawa's #9 can't hit the ball any way he wants." 

"He can only hit in a cross direction that his body is facing," Nishinoya continued. 

"Judging from their practice," Coach Ukai started from beside Hinata. "It seems that their #9 only recently started volleyball." 

"So, like Lev from Nekoma?" Hinata turned to ask him. 

"However, he lacks the speed and senses that Lev has. If you put it in another way, Kakugawa #9 only has his height, but that alone is far beyond everyone else." 

"So, when that #9 is going to hit, let's abandon straights," Daichi stated. 

The game resumed with Kakugawa serving. [y/n] received the ball to Kageyama before Asahi spiked it. 

Kakugawa's libero managed to get it, sending it to their setter. 

"Hyakuzawa!" 

As Hyazakuwa spiked over the block, Nishinoya managed to receive it, sending it to Kageyama. 

"Alright!" Nishinoya cried out. 

Kageyama tossed to Hinata, who jumped diagonally sideways, shocking the opponents a little. Hyazukawa jumped up to block Hinata, but wasn't able to stop the dink. 

The libero dived forwards. However, the ball touched the ground before he was able to get his hand under it. 

The crowd cheered loudly. 

"[y/n]! It's your turn to serve!" Daichi said, throwing the ball to [y/n]. 

[y/n] grabbed it, turning his attention back to Kakugawa as he studied their positions. 

"Sawamura-san!" Kageyama called out. The team turned to Kageyama. "I'm feeling good today, so can we try out the new quick?" 

Hinata started trembling in excitement, staring at Kageyama in disbelief. 

[y/n] got into position, bouncing the ball against the floor. He narrowed his eyes before he shut them and took in a deep breath. 

_'The space in front of the libero...'_

[y/n] opened his eyes again and tossed the ball into the air. He jumped, his palm connecting with the ball before he sent it to the other side of the court, in front of the libero. The ball was so fast that the libero couldn't react in time. 

A no-touch ace. 

"Nice one, [l/n]!" 

[y/n] served again, though the libero managed to receive it. The ball's course was a little shaky, though the setter was able to toss it to Hyakuzawa. 

"Hyakuzawa!" 

[y/n], Hinata and Kageyama jumped. Hyazukawa managed to spike over their block, but Nishinoya was there to receive it. 

The moment they landed on their feet, Hinata immediately sprinted off, ready to do their new quick. The blockers stood in front of Kageyama, trying to follow the ball. However, before they knew it, Hinata had already spiked the ball. 

The court was silent for a while as Hinata landed on his feet, the ball bouncing out of the court before everyone gasped. 

"There is it! Their super quick!" [y/n] heard someone shout from the second floor. 

[y/n] smiled. The quick that will never fail to amaze anyone. 

***

Karasuno and Kakugawa was tied. 

Hinata jumped up to spike the ball before Hyazukawa could touch it. 

The crowd cheered loudly again at Hinata and Kageyama's amazing quick. 

"Hell yeah!" Nishinoya shouted, jumping up and down. 

"Are we at the top of our game?!" Hinata shouted at Kageyama. "Are we at the top of our game, Kageyama-kun?!" 

"Shut up, you guys!" Daichi shouted, scaring everyone. 

The game continued. Karasuno was leading this current set. Tsukishima had managed to block quite a lot of spikes from Kakugawa and Hinata had helped a lot with scoring points. 

Karasuno was finally at their set point. 

21 - 24

It was Kageyama's turn to serve. The libero managed to receive the ball. The setter tossed it to Hyakuzawa, who spiked it. Asahi got his hand under the ball, though it flew out of the court instead. 

Kakugawa served and Daichi managed to get the ball up to Kageyama. [y/n] started running the same time Kageyama tossed the ball. [y/n] jumped up and spiked the ball hard. Kakugawa's #4 received it back to the setter. 

"Nice, Musshi!" 

Kakugawa spiked and Nishinoya managed to receive it perfectly. 

"Nishinoya, nice receive!" 

Hinata jumped up before Kageyama tossed. Hyakuzawa couldn't managed to block the ball as it flew deep into Kakugawa's court and hit the ground. 

"Alright!" Karasuno cheered as the whistle was blown. 

They won the first set. 

***

The next set started. 

This time, [y/n] was switched out with Tanaka. Due to the fact [y/n] hadn't practice the synchronised attack with the team yet, the success rate of the attack was lower. [y/n] stood beside the bench warmers, cheering and shouting words of encouragement. 

The game went on well. Karasuno was doing very well against Kakugawa and was currently leading the second set as well. 

_'Kakugawa #9...'_ [y/n] thought as the game went on. _'...should be getting very tired right now, but he's getting more intense.'_

Hyakuzawa spiked and Tanaka managed to receive it. 

"Sorry!" 

The ball flew back to Kakugawa's side. Hyazukawa jumped up to spike the ball, managing to spike it over Hinata. Nishinoya dived for the ball, but he was too late. 

_'He will be a troublesome opponent next year...'_ [y/n] noted.

His height, his power... 

_"Nice kill, [l/n]!"_

"Shit, why am I thinking about that now..." [y/n] sighed, squeezing his eyes shut. 

_"A quick set from Shirabu... And [l/n] [b/n] from the right! What an insane straight line-shot there!"_

_"As expected from a player who attended the Japan Youth Training Camp! [l/n] is definitely a skilled player, one of the top ten hitters in Japan!"_

[y/n] gritted his teeth, glancing back at the game to distract himself from the old memories resurfacing. 

Karasuno was at set point. 

Was he really out for that long? 

"Are you okay?" Sugawara asked [y/n] worriedly. 

"Yeah..." [y/n] trailed off, smiling at Sugawara. "I was just thinking about something." 

It was Kageyama's turn to serve. Kakugawa managed to receive it. 

"Hyakuzawa! We're counting on you!" 

The setter tossed to Hyakuzawa, who jumped. Hinata, Tanaka and Daichi waited for Hyakuzawa to jump before they jumped, managing to touch the ball with a soft block. 

Asahi quickly dived for the ball, keeping it in the air. Tanaka connected it and sent it back into the court. Hinata jumped up, his eyes scanning the blockers in front of him before he spiked the ball, aiming for the Hyakuzawa's fingers. 

And the ball hit his fingers, before flying out of the court. Two Kakugawa members tried to dive for the ball, but they were too late. It hit the ground and for a while, it was silent as the people tried to comprehend what happened. 

" _Piiiiii!_ "

"Alright!" Karasuno shouted in joy as the whistle was blown. 

[y/n] grinned happily, cheering at the sidelines. Asahi raised Hinata up as the team stood around them, congratulating Hinata. 

"We made it through the prelims!" 

The words slowly sunk into [y/n]'s skull. 

They did it. 

_We made it through the prelims..._

**To be continued...**


	24. Fallen Angel - 22

Karasuno was making their way out of the building after their last match of the day. 

[y/n] still had a hard time believing it. He'd pinched himself and asked Kageyama to pinch his arm just to make sure everything that happened was real. 

And it was real. Along with the excruciating pain came a wave of satisfactory as he walked beside Kageyama. Currently, Tanaka, Nishinoya and Kageyama were making fun of the 'ack' sound Hinata made during the time he received in the game. 

"Well, it went up, didn't it?!" Hinata shouted back at Kageyama. 

"Ack!" Nishinoya shouted from behind them. 

"Ack!" Tanaka shouted too, holding his stomach as he laughed. 

"By the way guys..." Ennoshita started behind them, "... you guys got your summer break homework done, didn't you?" 

"Ack!" Both Tanaka and Nishinoya shouted at the same time, jumping up in fear when they realised they didn't. 

[y/n] snickered before taking out his phone to tell his mum and Akaashi about their win. 

**[y/n]**   
_Mum, we got through the prelims!_

**[mum]**   
_Congratulations!_

**[y/n]**   
_We got through the prelims!_

**[akaashi]**   
_Well done, Bokuto-san is overjoyed that he's jumping around._

**[y/n]**   
_Sorry that you had to deal with a hyperactive Bokuto..._

**[akaashi]** _  
It's nothing much, it's a daily occurrence. _

Suddenly, Hinata shouted. [y/n]'s attention snapped back to the tiny middle blocker, startled. 

"I forgot my lunch box!" Hinata shouted, before running back to where they came from. 

The team merely watched as he rushed back, before they started walking off again.

"Hinata is so forgetful," [y/n] sighed, walking besides Yamaguchi. He shut his phone and stuffed it into his pocket. 

As the team stepped outside the gymnasium, [y/n] took in a deep breath. The sun was already setting and it was getting late. The team stood outside as they waited for their manager and their middle blocker. 

"They've been in there for quite some time," [y/n] frowned. "You know what, I'm going to go in there and see what's taking them so long..." 

No one decided to stop him. Tanaka and Nishinoya were stressing over the safety of their precious manager, thus, encouraging [y/n] more with his decision. 

He took big steps, wanting to get there faster without having to run. [y/n]'s legs were definitely not doing so well after the last two matches they had. 

When [y/n] finally got there, he saw Hinata standing in front of Kiyoko with a terrified look, hands spread out as he faced a blond haired male with a swept back undercut. [y/n] was about to run to them and intervene when a figure blocked his path. 

He took three seconds to study the figure in front of him before [y/n] took a step back in fear. 

[h/c] hair, that familiar smirk... 

"[f/n]," [y/n] spat out as he took a few big steps to get away from the tormentor of his brother and mother. 

"Hello [y/n]," the male in front of him greeted. 

Being at least 185cm tall, he was towering over [y/n] with a small smile. [y/n] wanted to gag at that smile. It was sickening, disgusting. 

"What are you doing here?" [y/n] said, glaring at his biological father. 

[f/n] took down his sunglasses, revealing that [h/c] eyes that both [y/n] and [b/n] had inherited. He had a small smile on his face, though [y/n] could see that it was merely a mask put on by him. Behind those bright shining [h/c] eyes and that friendly and relaxing expression he had, lies a monster. 

To any outsider, it would look like a normal father and son having a normal conversation after the games. 

It was far from that... 

[y/n] narrowed his eyes, staring up at [f/n] while clenching his fists. 

_'Punch him...'_

Oh how he wants to. 

[y/n] restricted himself from punching [f/n] though, not when they were in public eyes. 

"I've come to see my son's games! Can't I do that?" [f/n] said, smirking. 

"I'm not your son!" [y/n] hissed back, lowering his voice so that others couldn't listen in. "I'm not your son since what you did back then." 

"Science says otherwise," [f/n] smiled brightly. 

"You are merely the sperm donor," [y/n] snapped back. "You will never be my father!" 

"Hmm..." [f/n] hummed, still having that sick smile on his face. 

He patted [y/n] on the shoulder before [y/n] could jump out of his reach before he started walking, stopping beside [y/n] to tell him something. 

"I'm proud of you, being able to beat that 2 meter tall giant. I will come visit you guys soon." 

"Don't ever step foot ten meters near our house!" [y/n] said, gritting his teeth as he watched [f/n] walked off, ignoring his words. Just then, two males passed by him. [y/n] recognised them as the ones Hinata was talking to just now. 

"Hey [l/n]-kun!" Hinata exclaimed from behind, closing his bag at the same time. [y/n] caught a glimpse of the cute bento wrap Kiyoko was holding just now. Hinata blushed in embarrassment when he realised [y/n] saw it. 

"I-It's my s-sister's, Natsu!" He stammered. 

[y/n] took a deep breath to calm himself down, before he gave Hinata a small smile and snorted. "There's nothing for you to be embarrassed about." He took out his own bento set, showing Hinata the light pink bento wrap decorated with hearts of his. 

"My brother-" [y/n] felt something got caught in his throat as he tried to continue. Clearing his throat, he started again. "My brother bought it for me as a joke." 

"Let's go," Kiyoko said as she walked passed them. "The others are waiting." 

They ran out of the gymnasium to find the team staring at a group of boys, walking passed them with a wary look. [y/n] recognised the blond hair male as the boy who was talking to Hinata and Kiyoko just now. 

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Hinata shouted, stumbling down the steps. 

"You're late, boke!" Kageyama shouted back. 

[y/n] sighed as the team headed back off to their bus. He trailed behind them, eyes on the ground as his mind went through the talk he had with [f/n]. 

[y/n] felt... scared at the thought of that abusing jerk standing anywhere ten feet near where his family lived. 

His safe haven, intruded by a living nightmare. 

His heartbeat started to quicken as he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, desperately begging his own mind to stop thinking about [f/n]. 

It suddenly felt hard to breathe.

It felt like he was being strangled and pulled into the depths of the sea as he started gasping for breath. 

_'I can't... collapse now...'_

He held on, setting a timer in his head. 

_'Five seconds...'_

Five.

They got in the bus. 

Four.

[y/n] found a seat at the back of the bus. 

Three. 

Everyone settled down and no one disturbed him. 

Two. 

He pulled the hood of his jacket over his head to hide his face as they started driving off. 

One. 

He felt tears trickled down his cheeks as [y/n] desperately tried to muffle the sounds of his sniffling to avoid anyone realising he was breaking down. [y/n] started to tremble in his seat as he tried to calm himself down. 

_'Stop...'_

Anything. He just needed something. 

_'Home... home...'_ [y/n] thought as he imagined the beautiful backyard they have. The flowers, blooming brightly. The sun, slowly setting. The beautiful orangey sky. 

[b/n]. 

He started to tremble more. 

[y/n] couldn't hold it anymore. Luckily, Kageyama was sitting in front of him. [y/n] managed to take out his phone, and typed out the four letter word before he collapsed. 

**[y/n]**   
_Help_

[y/n] was crying, bawling his eyes out like a baby as he struggled to take in breaths. 

He heard people call out his name and felt the warmth of someone next to him, gripping his shoulder tightly before pulling him into his arms 

The hug kind of felt awkward, but it was comforting... 

"[l/n], deep breaths, follow me," he heard Sugawara's voice, soothing and comforting. 

And [y/n] followed. Taking in deep breaths as he focused on Sugawara's words. 

"It's okay, you're safe. Everything's okay." 

_Everything is okay._

And for once, [y/n] let himself believe his words. 

**To be continued...**


	25. Fallen Angel - 23

"Everything's okay." 

[y/n] allowed himself to believe Sugawara's words as he took in deep breaths to calm himself down, with Sugawara's help. 

A few minutes past and [y/n] finally calmed down. He slowly got out of Sugawara's embrace, pulling the hood over his head tighter, embarrassed. 

"T-Thank you," [y/n] mumbled to Sugawara. 

"Are you better now?" The silver haired setter asked. 

[y/n] nodded before he slowly lifted his head to face others. Sugawara was sitting beside him while the rest of the team were sitting closer to where [y/n] was, but not too close to the point where it felt suffocating. 

[y/n] smiled a little at the considerate actions of his teammates. 

"Is there anything you want to talk about?" Sugawara asked. [y/n] caught a glimpse of others averting their gazes and occupied themselves with their phone or talked to their seat mate, trying their best to act like they weren't listening. 

"I..." [y/n] trailed off, hesitating a little. He wanted to decline the offer, since he didn't feel ready to talk to someone else about his problems. Yet, part of him wanted to confide in someone else. But with so many people in the bus, [y/n]'s voice got stuck in his throat whenever he wanted to start talking about his problems. 

"...No... sorry..." [y/n] sighed. He couldn't help but glanced at his teammates again, feeling a little nervous and embarrassed for being caught in a situation like that. 

Sugawara smiled softly before nodding. "It's okay, I'm here if you need someone to talk to." 

[y/n] nodded again, "Thank you..." 

The rest of the ride was silent. [y/n] took this peaceful time to recollect himself. He wiped off the tears that stained his cheeks and gulped down a few mouthful of water, staring out of the window, at the beautiful sunset. 

Everything is okay, for now... 

***

Kageyama and [y/n] walked home together, as usual. They chatted a little about the matches today, though their conversation was a little awkward. They stopped to greet each other goodbye before separating down a different road. 

"[y/n]..." Kageyama started, cutting [y/n] off before he could say anything. He looked a little nervous and uncomfortable, eyes not meeting [y/n]'s. 

"I'm... sorry," Kageyama said. 

It was silent for a while as [y/n] processed Kageyama's words, blinking a few times as he stared at the raven haired male in front of him. 

"Sorry... for what?" 

Kageyama hesitated a little before he clenched his fist. "I... I'm sorry for not being there for you!" He cried out. "Y-you texted me for my help, and yet..." He closed his eyes shut, gritting his teeth in frustration. 

Suddenly, [y/n] put his hand on Kageyama's shoulder, tears slowly trickling down his face as he said loudly, "I'm sorry too, Tobio!" 

Kageyama opened his eyes, staring at [y/n] in shock. 

"I'm sorry for running away when you guys need me the most! I was such a coward," [y/n] said, laughing bitterly as the old memories flashed passed his eyes. "I ran away from my problems because I'm a coward who can't face them." 

"[y/-" 

"No, Tobio! I should have stayed... Only a coward would run away... I should have told you why I left, I should have contacted you after suddenly disappearing like that." 

"What a shitty excuse of a human I am..." [y/n] trailed off into a whisper. 

"[y/n]," Kageyama said, snapping [y/n] out of his own thoughts. His face softened as he continued. "You are not a shitty excuse of a human, you are not a coward..." 

They are just human. 

Nobodies living in a big world. 

"You're [l/n] [y/n], a living breathing human who makes mistakes, feels scared." 

"Please, [y/n]..." Kageyama choked out, a tear escaping his eye as it slid down his cheek and dripped onto the ground. "I know something big happened, something that affected you a lot happened. Please tell me..." 

"Let me help you." 

[y/n] sighed at his words, letting go of Kageyama's shoulder. 

"Okay..." he said, after a long while of silence. "I will tell you, what happened..." 

And he did. He told Kageyama everything under the streetlight, the only thing lighting up the dark street. 

One step backwards. 

***

The squeaking sound of shoes against the smooth wooden floors and balls hitting the ground filled the gym. 

Karasuno was currently practicing their serves. 

[y/n] wiped the sweat beads trickling down his forehead with the back of his hand, picking up another ball to serve again when the sound of the gym doors opening was heard. His head snapped to the direction of the doorway, not noticing the ball flying towards him until it was too late. 

"Ow!" [y/n] cried as he landed on the ground, massaging his head in pain. 

"Sorry!" He heard Daichi shouted. 

[y/n] sighed, slowly standing up before hurrying off to the outside of the court before any balls could hit his head again. He made his way to Kageyama and Hinata, managing to catch their conversation halfway. 

"I may never be able to defeat Oikawa-san," Kageyama stated. 

"What are you talking about?" Hinata voiced, louder this time. "Quit messing around!" 

"What did you see?!" 

It was silent for a while before Kageyama started. "Seijoh was having a match against a college that had some of their alumni. When I got there, they were on a break, and they were about to start a different match with different members. Oikawa-san went to their team as a college setter. It looked like, they were just people he had just met. But, after a few plays, Oikawa-san was part of the team. Even I could tell how lively the spikers felt. The ability to draw 100% out of anyone... Most people can't even do that, even after spending lots of time with them. But with Oikawa-san, it didn't matter if he disliked the player, or if the player had certain habits. I'm sure..." Kageyama trailed off a little, before he continued. 

"... that he could use them freely." 

Hinata stared up at Kageyama, mouth opened a little as he processed Kageyama's words before he glared up at him. 

"So are you saying that you're freaked out by the Great King again, Kageyama-kun." 

"Yeah, I'm really freaked out," Kageyama replied, shocking Hinata. Kageyama smirked as he continued, "Right now, Seijoh is what it is because it had Oikawa-san for the last three years, and our only chance to fight them again is at the Spring Tournament. We're going to beat them, as a team." 

His words seemed to have motivated the team. 

Hinata smiled before he ran off, holding a volleyball on top of his head, screaming. "I'm going to defeat you, Great King!" 

"That's my line!" Kageyama snapped back angrily at Hinata. 

[y/n] merely snickered at their antics, having gotten used to it ever since joining the Karasuno Volleyball Club. 

He turned back to stare at the volleyball in his hands, smiling a little. 

_'Oikawa-san...'_

Twirling the ball in his hands, he got ready to serve. 

_'We will finally meet again, huh...'_

***

"So, with the prefectural qualifier in October, we'll only go to Kanto two more times, including this trip," Takeda-sensei said. 

It was early in the morning and Karasuno had just reached Nekoma High. 

"Let's make the best of this chance." 

"Right!" 

They headed into the school and entered the gymnasium. 

"Hey, Tsukki!" a voice called out. [y/n] turned around to find Bokuto-san, with Akaashi and Haruki, their libero, waving his arms in the air. "Jump some blocks for me! Hey, hey, hey!" 

"This chapter is titled, 'Bokuto Gets Rejected by a Student From Another School'," Haruki stated from beside him when Tsukishima didn't react. 

"Yes," Tsukishima said, bowing down. "Thanks for working with me." 

"What?" The three of them gasped as they stared at Tsukishima in disbelief. 

"Why are you so surprised when you are the one who asked him?" Akaashi said, glancing at Bokuto. 

Bokuto shook himself out of his trance before glancing at [y/n], breaking into a smile. "Hey, hey, hey! You should come too, [l/n]!" 

[y/n] nodded, agreeing as he made his way to an empty court with them. Akaashi and [y/n]'s eyes met before [y/n] broke into a smile. 

"Thank you, Akaashi." 

"You're welcome." Akaashi said before Kuroo's voice grabbed their attention. 

"Hey! Come on. How long are you guys going to stand there watching?" 

[y/n] took a deep breath and allowed himself to relax before walking towards them. 

"Sorry..." 

***

Karasuno trained, and trained, and trained... 

Perfecting the weapons they had made for the October qualifiers. 

Days past as they got closer to the actual match day. 

And finally, it was the day before the match. 

[y/n] stood at the corner, holding his water bottle as he watched Hinata and Kageyama practice their quicks. 

"Hey! Wrap it up already!" Daichi shouted. "You're really gonna feel this tomorrow." 

"What? Already?" Hinata frowned. "But I don't feel like I've hit enough." 

"For crying out loud..." Daichi sighed. 

"That feeling, that you haven't hit enough..." Yachi started. The team turned to her in surprise. "Why don't you save that for tomorrow?" 

"I see!" Hinata said. 

"Right!" Kageyama and Hinata shouted, saluting Yachi before they raced each other to see who can pick up the most balls first. 

[y/n] helped clean up the gymnasium, before he walked out of the school with Kageyama. They chatted a little before they parted ways. 

As [y/n] made his way home, he couldn't help but tremble in excitement at the thought of tomorrow. 

He was positive they will go to the Nationals. 

[y/n] smiled as he unlocked the door, stepping into the house before shutting it close behind him. As [y/n] turned back to the living room and started heading to his room, he caught sight of a figure, wrapped up in bandages sitting on the sofa. 

[b/n]. 

Since the big fight, [y/n] had never met [b/n] face to face when he was awake. 

The few messages his mother had sent him earlier flashed passed his eyes. He remembered she had told him his brother was allowed to return home from the hospital. 

[y/n] studied his brother. 

[b/n] was staring down at his hands, his fringe covering his eyes. He didn't react to [y/n] entering the house. 

[y/n] slowly took a few steps forwards, staring at [b/n] as he made his way cautiously to his room, clenching his fists as he felt tears trying to break free from the frame of his eyes. 

"[y/n]..." 

[y/n] froze. He slowly turned around, trembling as he faced his brother. He waited, not daring to breathe as he stared at [b/n]. 

"I'm..." he hesitated a little. "...sorry..." 

"I realised what a shitty person I was and..." [b/n] continued, his voice getting shakier as he went on. "I'm just so sorry for what happened before [y/n]..." 

[b/n] slowly looked up. 

There, sitting in front of [y/n] was the face of someone [y/n] remembered. The laughter and joy they shared back in the days, in their backyard as they joked and played volleyball together. 

[y/n] felt the tears sliding down his cheeks. 

"Nii-chan..." 

**To be continued...**


	26. Fallen Angel - 24

"Nii-chan..." 

[y/n] and [b/n] stared at each other in silence for a while, before [b/n] continued, turning his head to stare at his palms again. 

"Ushijima told me what happened... I realised, how bad of a person I've been to you... I'm so sorry [y/n]." 

[y/n] stared at [b/n], with an open mouth before realising [b/n] must be waiting for him to say something. [y/n] cleared his throat and wiped the tears off his face. 

"It's okay, Nii-chan..." [y/n] said, breaking into a smile. "As long as you're here, and you're happy, it's okay." 

[b/n] slowly stood up, limping towards [y/n] with the help of his crutches, who blinked in surprise when [b/n] pulled him into a hug. [y/n] slowly relaxed before he hugged his brother back. 

"Thank you..." 

"I know volleyball means a lot to you, and I don't want you to be sad for the rest of your life because of your inability to play volleyball..." [y/n] choked back a sob when he remembered the promise they made so many years ago. 

_"We will go to the Nationals together!"_

[b/n]'s grip tightened, "I was so selfish, while you only wanted the best for everyone." He slowly stood up straight, breaking off from the hug. "I need to make it up to you in some way." He gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut. 

"I remember the promise we made, about going to the Nationals together..." [b/n] sighed. "I'm sorry that it will never happen-" 

"It couldn't be helped..." [y/n] whispered, though [b/n] continued as if he didn't hear [y/n]'s comment. 

"But," he turned back to stare at [y/n], the side of his lips curling up. "You will go to the Nationals and experience it, and I will be cheering for you, at the sidelines." 

[y/n] smiled before he started chuckling softly. "And I will be cheering for you, when you make it to Japan's sitting volleyball team." 

"I haven't even started yet." [b/n] frowned before he started chuckling alongside [y/n]. 

[b/n] limped off, startling [y/n] as he hurriedly followed his brother all the way to the little storage room they had. [b/n] entered and came out with a volleyball in hand, before tossing it to [y/n], who barely caught it in time before it hit his face. 

"For old time's sake?" 

[y/n] recognised the ball as the one they had used since they were little, back in Hyogo. [y/n] laughed and nodded. 

"For old time's sake." 

***

"Finally!" [y/n] said as he got down the bus. He took in a deep breath, enjoying the cool breeze in the early morning before the match with Johzenji. 

"We're here!" Hinata shouted excitedly, walking alongside Kageyama. "Back at the Sendai Municipal Gymnasium again!" He continued as the team stopped together, staring at the gymnasium in front of them. "We're gonna get out revenge!" 

Hinata took in a deep breath before he started dashing towards the exit, leaving Kageyama shocked and the other teammates to laugh at their antics. 

"Don't you dare get a false start, boke!" Kageyama shouted as he started running, catching up to Hinata. 

"It's like Hinata and Kageyama live on spinal reflex alone," Yamaguchi stated, sweat dropping at their antics. 

"They're like insects," Tsukishima commented, causing Nishinoya, Tanaka and [y/n] to snicker. 

[y/n] felt like he was on cloud-9 with every step that he took, excitement taking over him. His conversation with [b/n] yesterday had lifted a huge weight from his shoulders. And today, [b/n] was also here, in the same gymnasium and might have a chance to watch [y/n]'s matches since Shiratorizawa will be participating. 

_"So... what else did you want to tell me?" [y/n] had asked [b/n] as they enjoyed a simple supper together._

_"I'm Shiratorizawa's manager."_

_"Wait, what?!"_

_"Hmm... I wanted to stay in the team, but there was no way I can play... Ushijima helped me a little to secure my position as their manager."_

_"Wow... So you will be going to the games too? And you're still not fully recovered..."_

_"I can walk by myself. My injuries are healing well. I'm definitely going to the games tomorrow and no one can stop me." [b/n] stated loud and clear, before hunching with a sad look. "Plus I really miss my team."_

[y/n] smiled at that memory before he was snapped out of his own thoughts by Hinata's shout. [y/n] found Hinata and Kageyama stopping in front of a team, dressed in yellow. 

"That means..." the blond haired male [y/n] briefly remembered from two months ago said as he glanced at Hinata. He looked up again and pushed Hinata aside with a smile. "Glasses-chan! Be sure to tell me your number today!" He shouted as he waved at Kiyoko. 

Fire lit up behind Nishinoya and Tanaka as they stared at the blond haired male angrily, before they dashed off towards him, ignoring Daichi who shouted for them to come back. Both of them jumped, preparing to strangle him for real when a girl appeared in front of them. 

"I'm sorry!" She shouted, pushing the blond haired male aside. "Ugh... I'm so sorry about that!" She said, bowing. 

Tanaka and Nishinoya paused in mid-air as the rest of the team from behind her entered the gymnasium. 

"Hey, they stopped." 

"They stopped in mid-air. That's awesome." 

[y/n] chuckled a little before he started walking towards the duo. 

"We're gonna beat them all!" Both of them shouted, suddenly dashing off before [y/n] could reach them. 

"Hey!" [y/n] yelled before chasing after them. 

***

[y/n] listened attentively as Hinata went on about his dangerous bathroom adventures. He teased Hinata about his unluckiness as they approached the bathroom. 

"You're really unlucky," [y/n] laughed. 

"Yes, but-" Hinata said, waving his hands in the air, stopping when they reached the door. "I'm well aware..." Hinata started, glaring at the door. "That the bathroom is where you run into dangerous people." 

[y/n] was just about to reassure Hinata when a voice startled them both. 

"Whatcha doing?" 

Both [y/n] and Hinata froze, before slowly turning to meet two males who were taller than them both. 

[y/n] studied them, eyes widening in surprise when he realised who they were. 

"Oikawa-san? Iwaizumi-san?" [y/n] frowned.

The two senpais of [y/n] from Kitagawa Daiichi. 

"Ahh, [n/n]-chan!" Oikawa smiled down at [y/n]. "What a surprise!" 

"I heard you defeated the 2 meter giant. Well done," Iwaizumi said from beside Oikawa. 

"Yes! No!" Hinata stood straight, shouting back. [y/n] glanced at the orange haired male discreetly, realising how nervous he was. 

"Which is it?" 

Oikawa smiled down creepily at Hinata as he started. "This little shrimp is a handful during matches, so why don't we go bury him somewhere now?" 

"P-Pardon me!" Hinata shouted, before running off as quick as he could. 

"Hey!" Iwaizumi said, frowning at Oikawa. 

"Did you really have to bully him like that?" [y/n] frowned as well. 

Oikawa opened his mouth to snap back. But before he could do so, Hinata's shout grabbed their attention. 

"Ow!" 

The three of them turned to see Ushijima, and a freaked out Hinata, screaming as if his life depended on it. 

"Hinata Shoyo..." Ushijima stated, before turning his attention to the three standing behind him. "And Oikawa, Iwaizumi and [l/n]." 

"What's with this timing?" Oikawa grumbled. 

"Hell if I know." 

"So this will be your last tournament in high school. I wish you well," Ushijima said. Hinata could only glanced at both parties as the scene unfolded in front of him. 

"You seriously piss me off..." Oikawa said and Iwaizumi cut in. 

"We're going to the nationals, so it's not going to be our last." 

Ushijima blinked at their words, tilting his head sideways a little. "Only a team from the qualifiers can go to nationals." 

"What's going on here?" [y/n] could hear someone said from the crowd that was watching them. 

"Whoa, it's Shiratorizawa and Seijoh. Did we just walk in on a tense situation?" 

"Who's that guy in the middle, and the one standing besides Oikawa?" 

"It's that two guys, from the team that beat the two-meter guy, Karasuno! It's that #10 and #13 from Karasuno!" 

"Are they trying to pick a fight with Seijoh and Shiratorizawa?" 

"Holy crap..." 

"A-Anyway," Hinata cut in, "Karasuno's going to win... Eek!" He shouted, taking a few steps backwards when three of their attentions turned to him. 

"He's not wrong you know..." [y/n] started, taking the attention away from Hinata. "With me there, Karasuno will definitely win." 

Hinata's shout startled them. [y/n] turned to find another player, recognising him to be from Date Tech by his jacket. 

"I-I'm so sorry!" 

Ushijima stared at him for a while before he turned away. "It doesn't matter who it is. We'll gladly accept your challenge." 

Before Ushijima could walk away, [y/n] called out. "Wait, Ushijima-san!" 

Ushijima stopped in his tracks. 

"Thank you..." 

"It's the most I can do after all [l/n] had done for the team," Ushijima nodded before walking away as they stared at him until his figure was out of sight. 

"Well, glad to be able to meet you before the match [n/n]-chan!" [y/n] felt an arm draped over him. 

"Uhh... likewise, Oikawa-san!" [y/n] smiled awkwardly, before frowning. "Did you give my number to Ushijima-san?" 

Oikawa pulled his arm back with a raised eyebrow. "He wouldn't stop bothering me with all his Shiratorizawa nonsense until I gave him your number," he huffed. 

"Then... Thank you!" [y/n] smiled. 

Oikawa blinked in surprise at [y/n]'s words. 

"See you later, Iwaizumi-san and Oikawa-san!" [y/n] waved at them before dashing off after Hinata. 

Leaving two confused senpais in front of the toilet. 

"Did he j-just thank me for-" 

"Yeah he did." 

**To be continued...**


	27. Fallen Angel - 25

The hall was filled with the cheers from each school as Karasuno stepped in. Their game was starting soon, and Karasuno was preparing for warmups when the opposing team's shouts grabbed their attention. 

"YAHOO!" Johzenji shouted, the team jumping up excitedly. [y/n]'s eyes lingered on them for a while before he turned his attention to the court beside them, his eyes scanning the purple clothed group until it landed on a familiar figure. 

"Nii-chan!" [y/n] shouted, waving his arms in the air. [b/n]'s head snapped to [y/n], startled, before his frown morphed into a smile. He waved back, causing some of the two schools' team members attention to focus on them. 

"Those are so awesome!" 

[y/n] turned back to his teammates at Hinata's shout. 

"Your new glasses look so cool, Tsukishima!" 

[y/n] chuckled at Hinata's words, having heard it almost every day since Tsukishima got his new glasses. 

A whistle was blown, signalling for them to line up in their own respective side of the court. 

"Let's play!" Both teams shouted, bowing down at each other. 

Karasuno gathered up at the bench for their pep talk before the game, facing Coach Ukai as they listened attentively. 

"We are finally at the qualifiers. Our first opponent was a semifinalist at the Inter-high prelims. We've got our work cut out for us," Ukai stated. "You better go all out on that first one, Azumane!" He said, glancing at Asahi. 

Karasuno gathered around in a circle after Coach Ukai's talk, hands placed in front of them as Daichi shouted, "Karasuno, fight!" 

"Yeah!" They replied loudly. 

The starting players got into their positions on the court. [y/n] jogged after them, trailing behind with Kageyama. Both of them shared a look, nodding at each other. 

A small smirk was present on [y/n]'s face as he stood in his position, his piercing eyes analysing his opponents' positions. 

"Asahi-san, nice serve!" 

Asahi did his jump serve, which was received by Johzenji's #7, though the force threw him off a little and the receive was a little shaky. Their libero got the ball, though his receive was off, sending it to the back of the court. 

"Nice cover!" 

"Get the last one, Terushima!" 

"Chance ball!" Kageyama shouted as Karasuno prepared, their eyes following the ball. 

Though, instead of using an underhand hit to send the ball to the setter, Terushima jumped, swinging his right arm up to hit the ball, turning around in mid-air together. The ball flew to Karasuno's side of the court, landing deep in the middle of their court before anyone could react. 

[y/n]'s eyes widened as he stared at Terushima, mouth opening slightly in shock and so did the rest of Karasuno. 

"Yahoo!" Johzenji's captain cheered, jumping up, beaming brightly as the rest of his team congratulate him and cheered together. 

"A hit like that from the end line? Not to mention, while he was turning around?" [y/n] couldn't help but blurt out in awe. 

"That would usually be returned with an underhand hit," Tsukishima said, before turning back to their opponents. 

[y/n] blinked a few times, staring at the spot where the ball landed before he turned back to face Johzenji as well. A smile slowly overtook the shock expression on his face as he grinned. 

"So... we are playing against a reckless team huh..." 

Johzenji's side served and Asahi managed to get the ball, sending it to Kageyama. For a brief second, Kageyama and [y/n]'s eyes met, understanding flashed between them. 

[y/n] turned his attention to the blocker in front of him as he started running. For some reason, [y/n] felt better today. A lot better. He could see everything much clearer, think much clearer. [y/n] jumped, pushing himself as high up as he could go. 

And for a moment, [y/n] could see the whole court. His eyes scanned through the players, waiting to receive the incoming spike and noted their positions. He glanced back at the one blocker in front of him. 

_'Feint, or a cut shot?'_

Cold [e/c] eyes met the blocker's ones, the hawklike gaze making the blocker falter a little under the pressure. 

_'Nah, neither...'_

[y/n] knew [b/n] was watching. A smirk played on his lips as he swung his arm, palm connecting with the ball before sending it flying right passed the blocker with immense strength. It flew right passed the receiver standing behind the blocker, a loud _boom_ sounding as the ball hit the ground before anyone of them could react. 

_'A super straight line shot, [b/n]'s speciality...'_

[y/n] grinned as he landed on the ground. 

Perhaps there was no need to use such a flashy move when there was only one blocker, but [y/n] didn't really care at the moment. 

He turned to where Shiratorizawa was, his eyes meeting [b/n]'s. 

_'Welcome back.'_

***

The game went on with Karasuno in the lead, unsurprisingly. 

No matter how unpredictable Johzenji was, [y/n] was somehow almost always there to save the ball. 

Johzenji served, the ball hitting the net before falling into Karasuno's court. [y/n] dived, managing to save the ball before it hit the ground, though the ball flew out of the court instead. 

"Nice reaction!" 

[y/n] quickly pushed himself up, hoping someone will connect the ball. Luckily, Hinata's instincts were amazing. He ran towards the ball, arm reaching out. 

"Nice, Hinata!" 

He managed to get the ball, sending it high up. Hinata was about to hit the wall when he turned around, pressing his foot against the wall before pushing himself away from the wall. 

"H-he's Spider-Man!" [y/n] heard someone from the crowd gasped. 

Nishinoya managed to get a hand under the ball, sending it back to Johzenji's side. 

"In the back!" 

The libero dived for the ball, though he was not fast enough as the ball landed on the ground. 

It was Kageyama's turn to serve the ball. The ball got received by Johzenji's #4. The ball was above the net as both Hinata and the setter jumped, the setter managing to touch the ball. 

The spiker spiked it down. Luckily, Kageyama managed to receive it, sending it back to Johzenji's side. 

"One more! Hit it direct, Numajiri!" 

Numajiri spiked the ball and Daichi managed to receive it perfectly, sending it to Kageyama. Hinata suddenly dashed off, shocking Johzenji's front row players before he jumped. At the same time, Kageyama tossed the ball. 

Before Johzenji could react, Hinata had already spiked the ball, sending it deep in their court. 

"Nice, Kageyama!" Hinata shouted, going in for a high five, which left Hinata with stinging palms. 

"Their moves are hard to read, but it's not like the ball is going to disappear. Let's just calm down and keep going," Daichi said. 

"Yeah!" 

The rest of the game went smoothly for Karasuno, who continued to stay in the lead. Johzenji's blockers easily fell for the feints, which helped Karasuno a lot with scoring points. 

Asahi spiked the ball and Johzenji's #7 managed to receive the intense spike, sending it to their setter. [y/n] and Tsukishima watched, ready to block the incoming spike when the setter ran away from the net, shocking them both. 

Another player from the backline stepped in, before he tossed the ball to the setter, who spiked it perfectly. [y/n] and Tsukishima didn't react in time and there was nobody back there who was able to receive it. 

[y/n] gritted his teeth in frustration as he glanced back at where the ball landed, mentally beating himself for getting caught up in their surprise move. 

Almost at the end of the game, Johzenji's setter jumped up to spike. Kageyama jumped as well, ready to block the ball. A loud sound echoed through the hall as the ball bounced back into Johzenji's side of the court, landing at the back before the libero could reach it. 

"Nice block, Kageyama!" [y/n] shouted, before he turned away to stifle a laughter when Kageyama turned around to meet his team. 

There was a red mark on his face from where the ball hit and blood was dripping from his nose. 

Takeda-sensei immediately called a timeout before the team gathered around Kageyama. 

"Kageyama, don't die!" Hinata shouted worriedly, his face a little pale. 

[y/n] snorted, "He won't die." 

Kageyama sent a glare at [y/n]. 

"Hey, we are switching you out until your nose stops bleeding," Daichi stated. 

Kageyama immediately let go of the hand on his nose, the blood starting to drip down from his nose again as he shouted in panic. "My nose isn't bleeding!" 

"It is. Why would you lie about that?" Daichi frowned. 

Kageyama was doing fine and didn't have any serious injuries, though he still had to go to the infirmary and get it check out. Kageyama can't play until the bleeding stops. 

[y/n] sighed, patting Kageyama on the shoulder. "It's okay, you can continue to play later when the bleeding stops." 

"Kageyama!" Hinata shouted. "I'll handle things while you're gone!" 

"Yup. Leave everything to your senpais," Sugawara said, reassuring Kageyama. 

[y/n] glanced around the court, in search for Shiratorizawa. He couldn't find them, dampening [y/n]'s mood a little. 

"Hmm... they must be outside..." [y/n] murmured under his breath. 

He glanced at the second floor where the school's cheer squad, other teams who weren't currently playing and people who were just watching the match sat. Shiratorizawa wasn't up there either. 

[y/n] was about to turn away when he caught sight of a familiar figure, stumbling back a few steps when he realised who it was. [y/n] narrowed his eyes, clenching his fists as he turned back to his teammates. 

Like he said, they will meet again. 

And [y/n] definitely wasn't looking forward to it. 

**To be continued...**


	28. Fallen Angel - 26

23 - 19

The first set was currently in Karasuno's favour. 

Since Kageyama had to go to the infirmary, Sugawara came in with their setter. Coach Ukai had also switched Hinata out with Tanaka due to the fact that Tanaka worked with Sugawara more than Hinata did. Plus, Hinata's basic plays weren't as good. 

Currently, it was Johzenji's side to serve. 

[y/n], Daichi, Tsukishima and Tanaka prepared, watching as the ball fall into their court. 

"Chance ball!" Tanaka shouted, before receiving it perfectly with an underhand hit, sending it to Sugawara nicely. 

"Alright!" Sugawara smiled as he got ready to toss the ball. At the same time, Daichi, Asahi, [y/n] and Tsukishima started running at the same time, confusing the three Johzenji's blocker who were all watching Sugawara nervously. 

Synchronised attack: Sugawara's version! 

Sugawara tossed as Tsukishima jumped, followed by Asahi and [y/n]. The blockers didn't have enough time to react as Daichi spiked the ball, sending it over the net and into their court, scoring Karasuno one more point. 

"Alright!" The team shouted. [y/n] glanced at the scoreboard, his lips curling up when he saw the points. 

24 - 19

Karasuno was currently at set point. One more point and they will take the first set. 

"Tanaka, nice serve!" 

Tanaka served the ball over the net and Johzenji's libero managed to get it up into the air towards the setter. Suddenly, four players started moving together. [y/n]'s eyes widened when he saw it. 

_'They are doing a synchronised play?!'_

[y/n] took in a deep breath to calm himself down, before narrowing his eyes at the setter to watch his move. 

"Alright!" Their captain shouted, jumping up to spike the ball. 

[y/n] stood behind Daichi, Asahi and Tsukishima, who were all preparing to block, in case the ball broke through their wall. 

Though there was no need to do so, as the ball was too high for Terushima to spike when he jumped, his fingers barely missing the ball. The ball landed behind the team, with no one there to keep it up in the air as everyone stared at the scene in front of them, gobsmacked. 

The whistle was blown, signalling the end of the first set. Karasuno had managed to win. 

[y/n] walked besides Kageyama as the team headed towards the other side of the court's bench, to rest and listen to their next pep talk before the game. 

"How's your nose?" [y/n] asked worriedly, glancing at Kageyama. 

"It's fine," Kageyama answered, waving [y/n] off. "It isn't broken or hurt too badly so I can play in the next set." 

[y/n] smiled before turning away, his eyes wandering all the way to where he saw [f/n] just now. He scrunched up his eyebrows in confusion when he realised [f/n] wasn't there anymore. 

_'Don't tell me...'_

[y/n] glanced around the hall, trying to find Shiratorizawa but none of the members were present in the hall. 

_'[b/n]...'_

"[l/n]!" He heard Kageyama's shout, snapping him out of his own thoughts. The group was already gathered around to prepare for their next set. 

"Coming!" [y/n] gritted his teeth as he headed to his team. 

_'It's okay... It's okay.... Focus on the next set first...'_

Though it wasn't working well. [y/n] was barely able to hear what Coach Ukai was saying. When the whistle was blown, signalling for the team to head into the court, [y/n] trailed behind them. 

And slapped himself. 

Both of his cheeks were burning red as his team turned towards him in surprise. 

"Are-" Daichi started with a frown before [y/n] cut him off with a determined look. 

"I'm okay. Let's win the next set." 

The second set started with Johzenji serving. Nishinoya received the ball smoothly, sending it to Kageyama. At the same time, Hinata started running. 

Johzenji's #2 and captain jumped hurriedly to block Hinata's incoming spike. 

Hinata jumped before Kageyama tossed the ball. However, instead of sending the ball through the blockers, Hinata missed it, the ball barely missing his fingers. 

[y/n] was too far away to receive the ball and couldn't do much as he watched Hinata reached out for the ball with his right hand, trying to get his fingers to reach the ball. However, he was still too far away. 

Luckily, Daichi jumped in, managing to get the ball with an underhand hit and sent it over the net. 

"Daichi-san, nice job covering their arse!" Nishinoya shouted with a grin. 

"Don't say it like that!" Daichi shouted back. 

Johzenji's setter dived for the ball, sending it up into the air. 

"Here!" The libero shouted as he sent the ball above the net for Terushima to spike. 

Daichi managed to react in time, receiving the ball again before Hinata and Kageyama did their freak quick, scoring the first point for Karasuno. 

"Alright!" 

Kageyama and Hinata walked towards Daichi to apologise, stuttering a little in embarrassment. "I-I'm sorry! Nice cover!" 

"Thanks!" 

Daichi smiled at their response. "No matter how much you were told to calm down, I figured you guys might do something like that right when you got back, because you would get too excited." 

"I can't do any fancy plays," Daichi sighed, turning so his back faces the duo instead. "...but I can give you guys a solid foundation."

"Well, go all out," Daichi finished, turning back to face Kageyama and Hinata. 

"Thanks!" The freak duo shouted. 

[y/n] caught the look Johzenji's captain was giving Daichi, as if he was troubled by something. He shook his head, turning his attention back to the ongoing game. 

***

Johzenji was slowly crumbling from pressure as the set went on. Karasuno easily stayed in the lead, mostly thanks to Hinata and Kageyama's freak quick which helped them score points. 

10 - 17 

This set was in Karasuno's favours. Johzenji called a timeout. 

During the timeout, [y/n] caught snippets of their conversation. It seemed like they were struggling with Hinata and Kageyama's quick attack. 

"Kiyoko-san..." Nishinoya and Tanaka's voice grabbed [y/n]'s attention. 

"I'm not sure why I'm asking, but would you scold us too?" Nishinoya asked with a serious face. 

"In the most condescending way possible," Tanaka added. 

"No," Kiyoko replied immediately, cutting Tanaka off mid-sentence. 

"Then-" Nishinoya and Tanaka started, turning around so that their backs are facing Kiyoko. 

"I will not spank you either," Kiyoko said before she walked away. 

Nishinoya and Tanaka seemed to be sparkling from Kiyoko's statement. 

Those who witnessed the scene merely rolled their eyes with a sigh. Though it was kind of weird, the scene did cheered up the [y/n] a little as they got ready to continue the match. 

At least everything was still going normal and fine. 

As they walked onto the court, [y/n] noticed that there was something different about Johzenji from before. It might had been due to what their manager said just now. 

It seemed like the second match was about to officially start. 

**To be continued...**


	29. Fallen Angel - 27

"Feint!" 

Daichi dived for the ball, though he was too late as it hit the ground before anyone of them could react. 

Karasuno and Johzenji were currently in their second half of the second set. This time, the point differences were getting slightly smaller than before, proving that Johzenji was properly playing the second half of the match. 

Tsukishima spiked the ball and Johzenji's libero received it, sending it to their setter. However, instead of setting the ball, the setter jumped, preparing to do a dump. Kageyama jumped up to block the ball. However, the setter changed his position mid-air and tossed it up. 

Johzenji's captain came in from the back, spiking the ball down. 

"Not on my watch!" [y/n] shouted as he dived for the ball. The impact knocking the air out of his lungs as he stretched his hand as far as he could, trying to get his fingers underneath the ball before it could touch the ground. He managed to send it up before Nishinoya connected and sent it to Kageyama. 

Getting up quickly, [y/n] pushed himself to run faster. 

"Kageyama!" 

They shared a brief glance before Kageyama tossed to [y/n], who jumped at the same time. [y/n] spiked the ball hardly, making it hit the ground with a loud _boom_ before bouncing up to the second floor. 

[y/n] landed with a bright grin and high-fived Kageyama, who reluctantly high-fived back. 

22 - 16

It was Tsukishima's turn to serve. 

"Here he comes, #10," [y/n] heard one of the Johzenji players said. 

"Hey, listen up for a sec," their captain said behind them, gesturing for them to gather up. [y/n] eyed them suspiciously, wondering if they had found a way to stop Hinata's quick. 

Daichi received the ball that Johzenji spiked over, sending it to Kageyama. 

At the same time, Hinata dashed forwards and jumped, preparing to spike. 

[y/n]'s eyes widened when he realised none of the Johzenji players were preparing to block Hinata. Instead, all of them stood far away, preparing to receive the spike instead. 

The libero managed to get the ball, though it was shaky and very low. Terushima used his leg to receive the ball instead, landing on the ground on his back as he watched the ball flew up. Another player jumped in immediately, spiking the ball over the net and landed it in Karasuno's court. 

24 - 17

Karasuno was currently at set point, though it doesn't look like it affected Johzenji much. 

"Kageyama!" Hinata said loudly, gaining both Kageyama and the team's attention. 

He pulled Kageyama down to whisper something by his ear. None of them could hear what Hinata was saying. 

Johzenji served the ball, which went over the net. 

"Got it!" Nishinoya shouted as he received the ball and sent it to Kageyama easily. 

Kageyama tossed to Hinata again and Johzenji stood back, preparing to receive the ball. 

Hinata spiked the ball. Johzenji's libero dived for it, but he missed it. 

Hinata landed on the ground and it took all of them a few seconds to comprehend what happened. 

"Alright!" The team cheered. 

They won their first round of the qualifiers. 

They get to stay on the court longer.

***

As the team rested in the hallways, [y/n] hurriedly went to find his brother, fiddling with the hem of his jersey nervously. 

After running and asking around, he found Shiratorizawa, who were all preparing for their second match. 

[y/n]'s eyes scanned over the team and found [b/n], talking to Semi. [b/n] looked fine, which calmed [y/n] down a little. 

"Nii-chan!" [y/n] shouted, waving his arms in the air as he walked towards them. 

[b/n]'s face brightened as he opened his mouth to greet [y/n] before Tendou cut him off by jumping in front of him with a shout. 

"Little [l/n]!" Tendou shouted, opening his arms to greet [y/n]. Instead of responding, [y/n] ducked underneath Tendou's arm to get pass him and hugged his elder brother. 

Behind him, he could hear some members snickering and teasing Tendou. 

"Eww... you're sweaty and smell bad..." [b/n] said, wrinkling his nose a little. 

"We just finished our first match!" [y/n] huffed, letting go of [b/n] before turning around to greet the rest of the team. 

"Who are you playing tomorrow?" [y/n] asked curiously as the team prepared to leave. 

"Hakusuikan High," [b/n] replied before he shoved [y/n] a little playfully with his shoulder. "So you guys beat Johzenji huh... the team who went to the semi-finals, Karasuno must be good." 

"Karasuno is good," [y/n] smirked. "We are going to beat you and go to the nationals." 

_"We will go to the nationals together!"_

Both brothers' eyes widened when they both realised they stood at the exact same place before, and what they said to each other. 

The promise. 

A promise that was broken. 

"Hey, we are leaving," Semi said, grabbing their attention. He gestured for [b/n] to follow the team, which were all already starting to walk out of the gymnasium.

"Go ahead first, tell the coach I'm coming," [b/n] glanced back at [y/n]. "There's something I want to talk to [y/n] about." 

They watched as Semi nodded before walking into the hall, not talking until Semi was out of sight before [b/n] turned back to [y/n]. 

"[n/n]... I saw-" He started, with a a nervous look. 

"[y/n], [b/n], I'm glad both of you are here." 

Both brothers froze, sharing a glance before they slowly turn to meet the person who said that. 

[f/n], standing there with a small smile. He didn't have his sunglasses on this time, just the cap. 

[y/n] could feel [b/n] crumbling beside him. 

[y/n] took a step forwards, glaring at [f/n]. "What are you doing here?" 

"I've just came to support my sons' matches," [f/n] frowned before a smile came back. "Well done!" 

"Like I said before, we aren't your sons," [y/n] hissed, taking one more step forwards. 

[f/n] sighed at [y/n]'s statement. "Look, whatever happened before was a misunderstanding. I can explain more-" 

"Your hurt mum and Nii-chan! There's nothing more to explain!" [y/n] said, his voice getting louder and louder as he went on. 

[f/n] seemed to age ten times more as he sighed again. "[y/n], please just let me explain what happened-" 

All [y/n] saw was red. 

The next thing he knew was being held down by his teammates, Kageyama and Sugawara, who were trying to calm him down. [f/n] was laying on the ground with a bloodied nose which looked oddly crooked. 

It took quite a few people to drag [y/n] away from [f/n] as the authorities came to solve the situation. 

All the while, [y/n] kept screaming, wanting to punch [f/n], make him feel the pain he put his mum and [b/n] through. 

"You hurt them! You destroyed us! I hate you!" 

"[l/n], please calm down," Sugawara whispered beside [y/n]. 

[y/n] slowly relaxed in their grip as [f/n]'s figure slowly got smaller until he was out of sight. Tears of pent up anger and frustration he had over the years trickled down his cheeks as he sobbed, murmuring the few words repeatedly as he was dragged to the infirmary. 

"I hate him... I hate him..." 

"It's okay [l/n]," Sugawara said, his soothing voice working its charm as [y/n] slowly calmed down. "It's okay..." 

"I hate him so much..." [y/n] trailed off into a whisper, gripping onto Sugawara tightly. 

"It's all going to be okay..." 

**To be continued...**


	30. Fallen Angel - 28

"You injured your fingers pretty badly," Sugawara sighed as he accompanied [y/n] out of the infirmary. 

[y/n] gritted his teeth, staring at the bandages that covered his right hand's fingers before he glanced away with a soft 'tch'. 

After calming down, [y/n] became extremely quiet, only answering their questions with a slight nod or a small shake of his head. None of them could get any answers out on what happened earlier from [y/n], even Kageyama. 

They made their way to the bus, where the rest of the team were already waiting. [y/n] could feel the gazes of his teammates as he took a seat next to Kageyama, making sure to keep his head down low to avoid eye contact with the rest of his teammates. 

**[nii-chan]**   
_Are you okay?_

**[y/n]**   
_No._   
**Message deleted.**

**[y/n]**   
_I'm okay._

***

"Congratulations on completing your first day." 

"Thank you!" 

The team was currently in their own school's gymnasium, gathered around to listen to Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei's speeches before heading home.

[y/n] sat on the floor, hugging his legs tightly as he listened. 

"Unlike our other opponents, Wakutani South has third-years left on the team like us," Ukai started with a serious expression, glancing around at the team's faces before continuing. "They are a well-rounded team. Their defence and tenacity are close to Nekoma's. Don't lose your temper just because you can't get your attack in." 

"Especially the hyperactive ones and the simpletons," he added, glancing at Kageyama, Tanaka, Nishinoya and Hinata. 

"It'll be fine, we will follow up on them," Daichi said, beaming brightly. 

The four gasped at their captain's words. "T-Thank you very much!" 

"Yeah, leave it to me." 

"And [l/n]," Takeda-sensei started. [y/n] glanced up at him in surprise. "You can't simply go and punch people, no matter how mad you are," he scolded. He glanced away and let out a sigh. "As a punishment for your irrational behaviour today, you won't be playing in the match against Wakutani South." 

The team gaped at this, before some of them started to freak out. 

"B-but, we need [l/n]!" 

"The team's offence and defence are going to be weaker without him!" 

"I-It's okay," [y/n] voiced for the first time after he came out from the infirmary. The team went silent, staring at [y/n] in surprise. "I believe you guys can win... without me..." 

It was silent for a while, as the team processed what [y/n] had said, before Kageyama broke it by grabbing [y/n]'s shoulder before he started to shake him. 

"Boke! Don't think you're useless just because we don't need you to win!" Kageyama snapped angrily. 

"Oi oi oi...." Sugawara started, breaking the two apart before the argument gets worse. 

Kageyama shoved Sugawara's arm off his shoulder, turning to glare at [y/n]. "We are going to win this round, and then we will be playing against Seijoh and you will be there with us." He huffed before turning away from [y/n]. 

Daichi sighed before he stood up, staring at the team in determination. "Alright. We're going to make it through tomorrow too." 

[y/n] gritted his teeth, before he stood up as well, following the rest of his teammates. 

"Karasuno, fight!" 

"Yeah!" 

***

[y/n] unlocked the door and stepped in. He found his brother, sitting on the sofa with a cup of steaming hot tea in his hands. 

"[n/n]! You're finally back," [b/n] greeted him, putting his cup down on the table. He eyes landed on the bandages on [y/n]'s fingers, before his expression morphed into one of worried. "Are you o-" 

"You asked that before," [y/n] cut him off coldly. "Like I said, I'm okay. It's just a small injury." 

[b/n] stared at [y/n] for a while, before he frowned. "No, you're not." 

[y/n] shifted uncomfortably under his brother's gaze as he turned around to close the door behind him. "Yes, I am," he muttered. 

"[l/n] [y/n], just admit the truth, you haven't been okay since last year." 

"Thanks to you," [y/n] snapped back, before his eyes widened in realisation. "Sorry," [y/n] sighed. He bit his lip and hung his head low, feeling the tears that welled up in his eyes, threatening to spill. "I'm going to my room," he whispered before making his way to his room as quick as he could. 

[y/n] took a shower, before he lay in his bed, staring up at his blank ceiling. He stared for a while, before picking up his phone. He clicked into his contacts, scrolling through the list of numbers he had. [y/n]'s finger hovered over Akaashi's contact before he sighed and gave in. 

It took a few seconds before Akaashi picked up the call. 

"Hey," [y/n] greeted him softly. 

_"Hello, [l/n]..."_

[y/n] hesitated a little, before continuing. "Can I.... talk to you?" 

_"Sure."_

"Akaashi, I-" [y/n] closed his eyes as tears started to escape from them. "Am I weak?" 

Akaashi didn't reply. 

"S-sorry about this, I shouldn't have asked that question. It must be confusing," [y/n] blurted out. 

_"You're not weak."_

[y/n] paused in the middle of his ramble when he heard Akaashi's answer. 

_"There's only so much a human can take."_

"Akaashi...." [y/n] trailed off, the crying became more evident through the phone call as [y/n] struggled to breathe properly and speak. "Thank you..." 

And he spilt everything that night. Everything that had been bothering him for so long. 

He felt so much better, having someone to confide into. 

_"You're not weak."_

_"There's only so much a human can take."_

***

"I'm sorry!" [y/n] apologised, bowing down at his teammates. "For causing so much trouble for you all yesterday." 

"It's nothing, [l/n]," Sugawara said, patting [y/n]'s back as they walked into the gymnasium. "Come on, we have a match to win." 

The moment Karasuno stepped into the hall, [y/n] could hear Wakutani South's cheer team. 

"Go, go, Takeru!" 

"Go, go, Takeru! Go, go, Wakunan! Ahh!" 

The team got ready for the match. [y/n] stood with the rest of the players who weren't part of the starting line, cheering for the ones inside the court. 

"Let's play!" 

"Bring it on!" Hinata shouted as Wakutani prepared to serve. 

Daichi got the ball up, sending it to Kageyama, and then Hinata and Kageyama performed their freak quick. Wakutani's captain failed to receive this, the ball hitting his arms before bouncing out of the court. 

"Alright!" The team cheered. 

"Hinata, nice kill!" Yamaguchi and [y/n] shouted. 

"Alright, we're shutting down them down quickly next," Wakutani's captain shouted, gaining their attention. 

[y/n] frowned at his words. "They aren't surprised by Hinata and Kageyama's quick..." 

"Yeah," Sugawara said besides him. [y/n] turned to Sugawara with a look of surprise. "They are like Seijoh and Nekoma," he continued thoughtfully. "We aren't very good at dealing with teams that deal with us intelligently and so calmly." 

The team looked very stressed out by the fact that Wakutani was still so calm when Daichi said something to Hinata. Both Hinata and Tanaka immediately got hyped up, shouting at Wakutani's captain. 

[y/n] stared at his palm, wanting to spike the ball desperately. He sighed and put his hand down, going back to the game. 

"Just trust them, they can win this round," Sugawara reassured [y/n] with a smile. "And then, you will get to play in the next match." 

[y/n] nodded, the side of his lips curling up as he turned his attention back to the game, just in time to see Kageyama's powerful serve received by Wakutani's captain. 

#11 and #4 ran in at the same time, both jumping at different tempos as the setter tossed the ball high up into the air, confusing Karasuno's blockers. Wakutani's #2 ran in from behind, jumping up to spike the ball before Daichi could catch up. Asahi dived for the ball, but he was too late. 

Daichi received the ball again this time, after Wakutani's serve. Kageyama tossed the ball to Hinata as they performed their quick attack again. This time, however, their #4 got the ball up in the air, though the receive was a little shaky. 

"Takeru, get the last!" #5 shouted as he used an underhand hit to send it to their captain to spike. 

Daichi, Hinata and Tanaka got ready to block as Takeru started running. They jumped after Takeru jumped before he spiked the ball, hitting it against the edge of Hinata's hands. The ball flew out of the court and into the hands of a player from another school, sitting on the second floor. 

"A wipe..." [y/n] trailed off in surprise. 

The game continued, and soon both school's for at a tie. Takeru spiked again, using the block to score a point for his team. 

14 - 15

Tsukishima had a weird look on his face throughout the match. 

"Tsukishima, it's written all over your face," Ennoshita said, glancing at him. 

Tsukishima gulped before he said, "Well, as a blocker, spikers like that are just plain annoying." 

Hinata and Kageyama performed their freak quick and the blocker couldn't react fast enough, allowing the ball to pass through. They weren't able to receive the ball either, scoring Karasuno one point. 

15 - 15

"This is so annoying..." [y/n] sighed. 

The rest of the game proceeded in the same way. Both teams were constantly getting a tie, with Wakutani pulling ahead with one point before Karasuno caught up again. [y/n] realised both team captains had some sort of unplanned rivalry going on. 

Finally, Karasuno had gotten two points ahead when Kageyama and Tsukishima managed to block #2's spike. 

Both team captains managed to cheer up their own teammates constantly as the match went on. 

The teams were currently facing the longest rally of the day. Tanaka managed to receive Wakutani's spike that had passed through Tsukishima's block, sending it to Kageyama. Asahi spiked the ball passed the two blockers on him. Another player dived for the ball, managing to keep the ball in the air. 

_'They are all so good at connecting...'_

[y/n] thought as he watched nervously. 

"Don't let your guard down! We are definitely going to get this one!" Daichi shouted. 

Takeru spiked the ball, hitting it against Tsukishima's hand. The ball flew out of the court, however, Daichi dived after it before it could fall, using his fist to send the ball up. Nishinoya connected before Daichi got up, running to where the ball is. 

"Don't give up now! Get it over!" [y/n] shouted, alongside Yamaguchi. 

Both Tanaka and Daichi dived for the ball at the same time. 

_Thump._

The ball barely flew over the net, dropping into Wakutani's court and hitting the ground before Takeru could get it. Though, most people weren't focused on the ball. 

Tanaka got up as the rest of the team gaped at the scene in front of them. 

Daichi lay on the ground, hand over is face while Tanaka held his shoulder, wincing in pain as he stared at Daichi with a worried look. 

"Daichi-san?"

**To be continued...**


	31. Fallen Angel - 29

"Daichi-san?" 

Everyone held their breaths, staring at Daichi, until he slowly got up with a groan. 

Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei quickly ran towards him, with worried looks on their faces. 

"Where did you get hit?!" Coach Ukai shouted. 

"M-my face?" Daichi whispered, slowly bringing his left hand up to his cheek. 

"Sawamura-kun, where are you at right now?" Takeda-sensei asked, bending down to eye-level as he spoke. 

"Sendai City, in the gym," Daichi replied, letting go of his face. The spot where Tanaka's shoulder hit was red, starting to bruise a little bit. [y/n] winced when he saw it. 

"Who are we playing right now?" Takeda continued to ask. 

"W-Wakunan..." 

Kiyoko quickly ran towards him, with a towel, ice pack and some tissues ready in her hand, stopping besides Nishinoya. 

"I'm fine!" Daichi shouted in panic, his eyes widening a little. 

"But it appears that you hit your head, so please go to the infirmary," Takeda-sensei stated. 

Daichi looked upset by his words, wanting to continue playing in the court. Takeda-sensei spotted this, and placed his hand on Daichi's shoulder, shocking him. 

"Go have them confirm that you're really okay," he said, reassuring the captain. "That's the quickest way for you to return to the match." 

Kiyoko hurried to Daichi as he stood up, stopping in front of him with a shock look as she said in surprise, "Blood..." 

"Eh?" The moment Daichi opened his mouth, blood started trickling down. Daichi pressed his hand against his mouth, stopping the blood from trickling down. 

"Did you cut your lip?" Ukai asked. 

Daichi slowly brought his hand down, blood coating his palm before he spat something out. It took a moment for them to register what it was, before the team reacted in shock, their mouths agape. 

A tooth sat in Daichi's palm, covered in blood. 

[y/n] gagged, feeling slightly sick at the sight of so much blood. It seemed like Hinata and Yamaguchi weren't doing so well either, from the looks on their faces. The three of them were sickly green. 

Daichi slowly walked out of the court, with the help Kiyoko. They cleaned up the blood before Daichi pressed the ice pack against his cheek. 

Tanaka walked up to him, grabbing the team's attention when he voiced, "Daichi-san." 

He took in a deep breath before bowing, his eyes squeezed shut as he apologised, "I'm sorry-" 

Though he was cut off by Daichi. "Sorry, Tanaka." 

Tanaka glanced up at Daichi, surprised. 

"I saw you go in for the cover, but my body moved on its own and went in there," he continued, smiling. "But look," he said, glancing at the scoreboard. "Because you got the ball over, we are now in the 20s." 

After making sure Daichi was doing fine, Coach Ukai accompanied him to the infirmary to get his injury checked up. 

"We are going to need a substitute captain..." Sugawara trailed off with a thoughtful look, glancing at all the Karasuno players, his smile brightening when his eyes landed on Ennoshita. 

"I vote for Ennoshita," Kinoshita stated, Narita nodding along. 

"I agree that Ennoshita should be the substitute captain as well," [y/n] said. 

In the end, the current benched players agreed to elect Ennoshita as their substitute captain for this match, or at least until Daichi can get back to the game. 

"You're the only one we have. We are counting on you!" Sugawara shouted as Ennoshita stepped out from the box, preparing to enter the court. 

"Chikara, you got this!" 

Ennoshita stopped by Takeda-sensei, listening to what he has to say first before he stepped into the court, and the first set officially continued. 

He looked quite nervous and unsure as he walked into the court.

[y/n] gritted his teeth, disappointed in himself. If only he hadn't acted so irrationally, Karasuno might not encounter this problem. Without Daichi, their defence had dropped drastically. It would be a miracle if Karasuno managed to make it through this match. 

"You have to believe in them," Sugawara said, smiling. 

[y/n] glanced at him in surprise, before his frown morphed into a smile. He nodded at his senpai, turning back to the ongoing set. 

He had to believe in them. Each of them had trained so hard for the tournament and gave it their all. Karasuno weren't flightless crows or wingless crows anymore. 

_"...the team with the better six are stronger..."_

They will win this round, the next, and the next and go to the nationals. 

No matter what it takes. 

***

Putting Ennoshita in as a substitute captain was a right choice and a good idea. No doubt his skills aren't on par with Daichi's, he definitely brought the mood of his teammates up and acted like a true captain. 

"He's the best wing spiker for managing the out-of-control second-years who are the core of our offence. And lately, his influence has spread to our first-year troublemakers too," Sugawara said. 

The set continued with Ennoshita serving. Wakutani's player with a hairstyle that symbolises a pineapple managed to receive the ball smoothly and sent it to the setter. 

The spiker spiked the ball down before Ennoshita could react, scoring them one point. 

20 - 18

It was Takeru's turn to serve. He did a jump serve, the ball flying over to Ennoshita, who failed to receive it. The ball hit his arm and flew out of the court. 

"Damn it... I'm sorry!" He shouted. 

_'That must be harsh...'_ [y/n] thought. Failing to receive the balls sent over to you after being trusted to substitute in as a captain would make Ennoshita more unconfident. 

"I'll guard a little wider," Nishinoya told him, reassuring Ennoshita. 

"Takeru, nice serve!" 

Out of sudden, Ennoshita shouted. 

"Bring it on!" 

Tanaka and Nishinoya stared at him in shock, while Narita and Kinoshita merely smiled at his antic. 

Ennoshita managed to get the next intense serve thrown in his way, successfully sending it to Kageyama. 

"It's up!" 

"Ennoshita, nice!" 

"Give it to me!" Asahi shouted, waving his arm in the air. 

"Azumane-san!" Kageyama shouted as he tossed to him. 

The third-year wing spiker managed to spike through the two blockers, scoring Karasuno one point. 

21 - 19

"Asahi-san, nice serve!" 

Asahi did his powerful jump serve. #2 tried to receive it, but it hit his arms and flew out of the court instead. 

Asahi served again. However, this time, #2 managed to receive it. 

"Like hell we're giving it to you again!" He shouted, shifting his feet as he prepared to run and spike. "I'm gonna get this!" 

Though before he could run, the setter did a dump instead, shocking him. Nishinoya dived to receive it, though he was too late. 

"Don't mind! Don't mind! Let's do this!" Yamaguchi shouted besides [y/n]. 

"Yamaguchi..." Kinoshita called out. 

"Yes?" 

"Shimizu-senpai is calling you." 

[y/n] patted Yamaguchi on the back, having guessed what that could be about. "Good luck." 

The match continued. Tanaka spiked it passed the blockers, earning Karasuno one point. 

23 - 20

Karasuno was currently in the lead. With two more points, they can finally take the first set. 

The whistle was blown. Yamaguchi stood next to the referee, holding the #11 sign in his hands, shaking nervously. 

Tsukishima's words had managed to cheer Yamaguchi up a little, as he switched out with him. Ennoshita managed to calm Yamaguchi down as well. 

The whistle was blown. Yamaguchi took a few seconds to calm himself down before he threw the ball up into the air and started to run. 

The panic look on his face made [y/n] nervous. It was obvious he must have did something wrong to have that look on his face. 

Yamaguchi hit the ball, sending it flying to Wakutani's side. Though it hit the net instead of going over it, dropping into Wakutani's side. 

[y/n] let out a sigh of relief. 

24 - 20 

Karasuno was currently had set point. They were cheering over Yamaguchi's successful serve, failing to realise the look he had on is face. 

Yamaguchi grabbed the volleyball and prepared for the next serve. 

"Nice serve, Yamaguchi!" 

"One more!" 

He closed his eyes, before opening them again. [y/n]'s eyes widened as he watched Yamaguchi threw the ball into the air, realising what he was doing. 

Instead of going for a jump float serve, Yamaguchi was doing a normal overhand serve instead. 

The ball got over the net successfully and Wakutani's captain received it. The setter tossed the ball and #4 spiked it, the ball hitting Hinata's hand before flying towards Yamaguchi. 

Yamaguchi didn't react in time. Instead, Ennoshita dived in front of him, keeping the ball in the air. Kageyama used an underhand hit to send it to Asahi, who spiked it passed the two blockers successfully. 

25 - 20 

The whistle was blown again, signalling the end of the match. 

"Alright!" The team cheered happily. 

The team was walking to the other side as they changed court, when Coach Ukai stomped over, an angry look on his face. 

[y/n] paled, turning his attention to Yamaguchi, who was standing beside him with a panic look. 

"YAMAGUCHI!" He yelled, reaching Yamaguchi when Ennoshita stood in front of him. 

"U-Um..." Ennoshita started, cutting Coach Ukai off. "H-He knows," he continued, raising his hand. "I think he knows more than anyone else." 

Yamaguchi started tearing up at Ennoshita's words. 

[y/n] opened his mouth to say something to him when Tsukishima walked passed, stopping besides Yamaguchi as he handed him his towel, before walking away without glancing back. 

[y/n] sighed, "Come on," he said, patting Yamaguchi on the back, before pushing him to where the team was gathered at. "Let's go." 

_'I know how you feel...'_

[y/n] thought as he stared ahead, ignoring the silent sniffles coming from Yamaguchi. 

_'What a coward I am... How lame I am... for running away...'_

His grip on his own bottle tightened as the memories of last year flashed passed his eyes. 

_'What a coward I am... How selfish I was...'_

Kitagwa Daiichi's lost, as [y/n] silently watched in the crowd, before he walked away, falling deeper into the hole he had been trying to escape. 

"Yamaguchi," [y/n] said, grabbing his attention. The taller male turned his head to face [y/n], his nose slightly red. 

"It's okay." 

**To be continued...**


	32. Fallen Angel - 30

Daichi was okay, but he couldn't play yet.

And Wakutani easily took the second set from Karasuno.

 _'You have to believe in them...'_ [y/n] tried to convince himself, slouching in defeat when Wakutani scored a point, securing their win.

Sugawara merely patted [y/n] on the back, before the walked towards the players who had just exited the court.

"Hey!" Kinoshita shouted, grabbing Ennoshita's attention. "You got a look on your face like the world's gonna end!"

"It's too early for the world to end," Tanaka added, throwing his arm around Ennoshita's shoulders.

"I'm the Earth Defence Force!" Nishinoya jumped in, scaring them.

Ennoshita angrily threw Tanaka and Nishinoya away from him. "I do not look like that!"

"Alright! Chikara's back!"

"Look, they are doing fine," Sugawara laughed as he watched their antics.

The team gathered around to listen to Coach Ukai's pep talk. "If the ball gets blown away, there's nothing much you can do, but there are still some you can pick up." He stated. "Your attacks are getting in there. Keep it up!"

"Hai!"

"COACH!"

[y/n] jumped and stumbled a few steps backwards when Hinata shouted. Really loudly. [y/n] massaged his ears and sent a small glare in Hinata's way, who ignored him.

"So the Little Giant was like Wakunan's #1?"

"Well..." Coach Ukai started. "His play style is probably the most similar in the prefecture right now."

"Oh!" Hinata slowly turned to glare at Takeru.

"Hey, don't try to duel with him," Kageyama said. "He's better in mid-air battles than you are. Just play like you usually do."

"Why do you have to break my heart like that?!" Hinata shouted at Kageyama angrily.

"Hey, hey..." [y/n] chuckled weakly, pushing them both away from each other. "Your enemy is there, not here."

"That was just some kind of advice," Kageyama huffed, which angered Hinata even more.

"Oi..."

"Kind?!" Hinata snapped at him, ignoring [y/n].

"H-Hinata, calm down..." Asahi pleaded behind them.

"I know that they're good!" Hinata continued, ignoring Asahi as well. "That's why I'm trying to figure out what to do!"

"Don't try to use the brain you don't have," Kageyama retorted.

"What did you say?!"

Luckily, the whistle managed to stop the duo before the fight worsens to physical fighting.

The third set had officially started.

Karasuno and Wakutani was tied until Takeru scored the the second point for Wakutani, breaking the tie with a narrow straight, shocking the onlookers with his abilities.

Tabi served the ball. It hit the net, before dropping into Karasuno's court. Kageyama hurriedly get a hand underneath it and keep it in the air before Tanaka connected.

"Hinata!" He shouted, sending the ball towards him.

Hinata ran and jumped, before he spiked the ball. However, the ball flew high above the blockers hand and out of the court, hitting the wall behind them.

"Ah?!" Karasuno gasped in shock.

[y/n] sighed. "He must be trying to do what Nakashima did."

Tabi served again, and this time, the ball went over the net. Nishinoya received it, sending it to Kageyama, who tossed it into the air. Asahi came from behind Hinata and spiked the ball. One of the back row players managed to receive the ball.

Wakutani's setter tossed the ball to Takeru. Both Hinata and Tanaka quickly jumped up to block. Takeru spiked the ball, hitting it against Hinata's hand. It flew out of the court, and was about to hit the ground when Hinata dashed off, right after he landed.

"Look out!" Coach Ukai shouted, as he quickly stood up, before pulling the bench away from Hinata. Takeda-sensei fell down because of that.

Hinata managed to get the ball, sending it back to the court before he landed on the ground, using his hands to support his fall before landing on the ground on his chest gently. Immediately, Hinata pushed himself up, and ran back into the court.

"It's a counter!" Coach Ukai shouted.

Kageyama tossed before Hinata jumped, spiking the ball deep into Wakutani's court before the blocker could reach him.

"Yeah!" The team cheered.

[y/n] grinned. They might make it after all.

Suddenly, Hinata hit into Kageyama, both of them landing on the ground with a nasty fall. [y/n] winced, hoping that the pair was okay.

"Are you alright?!" Asahi shouted in panic.

"I got too enthusiastic," Hinata said.

"Be careful! Seriously, be careful!"

"Bumping into a guy this light is nothing!" Kageyama said, turning to look at Asahi.

That statement made Hinata mad. And soon, both of them were at each other's throat again.

"That was awesome! Nice kill!" Ennoshita told them, stopping their fight.

"Even if we are backed into a corner, we still have the firepower to break through. That's our weapon," Kageyama stated, as he calmed down. "I think you said something like that before, Ennoshita-san."

Ennoshita gaped at his words, before he slowly smiled. "That's right."

For the rest of the match, their points stayed close. Karasuno would score a point and manage to tie with Wakutani before Wakutani would pull ahead by one point again.

7 - 6

"Takeru!"

Takeru spiked the ball, using a block wipe to score a point. Ennoshita tried diving to save the ball, but he was too late.

Before Wakutani serves again, Ennoshita called the rest of his team towards him and whispered something to them. [y/n] was too far away to hear what he was saying.

"Do you think he found a way to deal with those block wipes?" [y/n] asked his senpai with a frown.

"Maybe," Sugawara answered, scrunching his eyebrows as he watched them. 

The game resumed. Tanaka spiked the ball, which got received by Tabi. Wakutani's #10 used an underhand hit to toss the ball to Takeru.

Takeru spiked the ball, hitting it against Hinata's hand. The ball flew out of the court, but this time, Ennoshita managed to receive it, sending it back to his teammates.

"Ennoshita!" The benched players, besides Tsukishima, shouted, cheering for their teammate.

Nishinoya managed to connect.

"Hinata! Last ball!"

Hinata started running, his eyes on the ball as he jumped. This time, he hit the ball against the blocker's hand, and the ball rebounded back to Karasuno's court.

"Alright! Got this!" Nishinoya shouted before he received the ball.

"What?! He hit the block on purpose?!" Narita gasped in surprise.

"A rebound..." Tsukishima said.

"Ehh? When did he learn that?" Sugawara asked, turning to look at Tsukishima.

"During the summer training camp," Tsukishima replied. "But he just got lucky," he added after a while.

Hinata jumped to spike the ball. However, instead of tossing it to Hinata, Kageyama tossed it to Tanaka instead. The rest of the blockers were distracted by Hinata, so they reacted late to Tanaka's spike.

"That was amazing..." [y/n] trailed off, staring at Hinata.

"See, I told you, you just have to believe in them," Sugawara smirked beside him.

Wakutani was still ahead as the game continued. However, Tsukishima managed to block his spike, scoring Karasuno one point, and they were finally at a tie again.

13 - 13

Karasuno managed to get ahead of Wakutani after their short timeout halfway through the game. They were finally at their match point, after a long and exhausting game.

"Just this one more point, and then we win..." [y/n] said nervously, clenching his fists tightly as he watched the game. The rest of his teammates were equally as nervous as he was.

Tsukishima served the ball and Wakutani's #10 received it. Their setter tossed to Takeru, who did a feint, gently hitting the ball with the tip of his fingers. Tsukishima dived for the ball, but he was too late as the ball had already hit the ground.

Tabi served, the ball hitting the net instead of going over it. However, it still managed to fall into Karasuno's court. Nishinoya dived and received it.

"It's up! Nishinoya, nice!"

Kageyama tossed the ball, as Hinata jumped. However, the ball was a bit too high. Hinata reached out with his left hand instead, hitting the ball.

"Chance ball!" Takeru shouted.

"Hinata!" Ennoshita shouted. "Don't flail! A good jump..."

Hinata took some time to process Ennoshita's words, before he turned his attention back to the ball and shouted, "...starts from good footing!"

Kageyama and Hinata stood in front of the net, watching the players. Wakutani's setter tossed the ball to Takeru as both Hinata and Kageyama jumped in front of him to block the ball.

He spiked it against Hinata's hand, and sent it flying out of the court with another block wipe. Luckily, Ennoshita managed to hit it with his hand, sending it back to Kageyama.

_'One more... Just one more...'_

[y/n] thought, repeating the same sentence over and over again as he watched.

Hinata took a few steps back before he ran. Kageyama tossed the ball after Hinata jumped as they performed their freak quick.

The blockers couldn't react in time. The ball hit Tabi's arms and flew out of the court. Their #10 dived for the ball, however it had already hit the ground before he could reach it.

As the whistle was blown, a big smile found its way onto [y/n]'s face.

25 - 23

Karasuno had won.

"Alright!"

**To be continued...**


	33. Fallen Angel - 31

"I still can't believe we won," [y/n] chuckled to himself as he splashed water onto his face. He slowly stood up straight and turned the water tap.

He stared at his own reflection for a while, noting how the dark eye circles had faded a little, probably thanks to the lessening nightmares. A small smile sat on his face, though it was strained. It never quite reached his [e/c] eyes. [y/n] sighed and dropped the facade, a frown replacing the strained smile.

"What am I thinking?" [y/n] murmured under his breath, gripping the sides of the basin tightly and squeezed his eyes shut. "Of course they would win. They aren't wingless crows anymore."

He opened his eyes again, staring at his reflection with a blank look. Slowly, a smile spread across his face, but it looks forced. [y/n] tried again. He stood up straight at the tenth try, finally satisfied with how it looks, before he wiped his face with a towel and slowly made his way towards the second floor where his teammates were.

Even after so many months of faking a smile, [y/n] still hasn't master the art.

His feelings were confusing him. Karasuno had won their match, so wasn't he feeling happy?

[y/n] banished the thought from his head as he sat down besides Kageyama. He didn't bother greeting his teammates, since they looked invested in Seijoh and Date Tech's game. Instead, his eyes made its way towards Shiratorizawa, who had all just finished their own match. As expected, Shiratorizawa had snatched another game from another team. They made their way out of the court, bright smiles present on most of their faces.

He turned his attention towards the last match of the quarterfinals. Seijoh and Date Tech were already on their second set, and Seijoh currently has the lead.

Oikawa used an underhand hit to send it to Matsukawa, who did the toss instead.

"Oikawa!" He shouted as he tossed it.

Oikawa started running, and at the same time, Date Tech's #1 and #2 started running to block him as well.

_'The Iron Wall of Date Tech...'_

[y/n]'s eyes widened when he saw how fast the two of them reacted. He briefly remember Kageyama telling him about their match against Date Tech in the last Interhigh.

They jumped after Oikawa did, raising their hands high up to block. Oikawa prepared to swing his hand down when Date Tech's setter ran and jumped before Oikawa could hit the ball, closing in on that open spot.

The setter managed to block the ball. It landed on the wooden floor before anyone could react, scoring Date Tech one point.

Kageyama and Hinata gasped loudly besides [y/n], who gave them a side glance.

_'Aren't they nicknamed the Iron Wall...? What's so surprising about it?'_

He turned his attention back to the game, in time to see the setter knocking into #1, who knocked into #2. #2 landed on the ground, instead of landing on his feet like the other two. He slowly sat up, an annoyed look on his face.

"That is..." Someone started. [y/n] snapped his head towards the direction of that voice, finding a raven haired male wearing a dark teal blazer and a yellow tie. He had a smug smile on his face as he continued. "...our new iron wall... Koganegawa."

 _'New Iron Wall...'_ [y/n] thought, staring at Koganegawa. _'That must be why they were shocked just now...'_

"The Iron Wall..." [y/n] started, grabbing his teammates attention. "Must be a spiker's nightmare."

Asahi shivered at [y/n]'s words.

"It's an Iron Wall, but it's not unbreakable," Kageyama said.

"However, they will be a very challenging to play against next year. They might end up being our hardest enemy to overcome next year."

[y/n] frowned at Coach Ukai's words.

The game went on and Seijoh was still in the lead.

16 - 18

Oikawa got a no-touch service ace when he served. The second time he served, Futakuchi ([y/n] learnt their names from Hinata) managed to receive it. However it went over the net and back to Seijoh.

Kindaichi spiked the ball and Date Tech's libero, Sakunami, managed to receive it, sending it to Koganegawa. The setter jumped, pushing the ball slightly so it stays in the air before Aone came in front behind and spiked it.

Thanks to that, Date Tech scored back one lost point.

17 - 19

"Wow!" Hinata gasped loudly. "So fast! So high!"

"Putting it where the spiker will hit it," Ennoshita said from behind them.

"That's a combo that's only possible because of the setter's height."

[y/n] agreed with Sugawara. He shifted in his seat and leaned back, analysing the rest of the match in silence.

Oikawa's dump finally got Seijoh to set point. Date Tech was four points behind, and unless a miracle happens, [y/n] highly doubt that they can win the second set. Judging from how the second set went, [y/n] guessed that Seijoh had won the first set too.

Hanamaki served this time. Date Tech's #8 received it. Futakuchi spiked, the ball flying passed the blockers.

Oikawa tossed the ball to Iwaizumi, who spiked it. Aone managed to get a one-touch and #8 managed to connect.

"Kogane!" He shouted after he received it.

"Right!"

However, instead of tossing the ball, he did a dump instead, smashing the ball over the net. It hit the libero's arms before flying out of the court. Hanamaki dived for it, though the ball hit the ground before he could reach it.

"Whoa. This time he did a dump and smashed it!" Tanaka voiced in surprise.

"You wouldn't be able to get that even if you saw it coming." Kageyama's eyes seemed to be sparkling a little when he said that.

22 - 24

Unless Date Tech managed to score four conservative points, Seijoh was definitely winning. Scoring two conservative points against a team like Seijoh is already quite impressive, unless you're Shiratorizawa.

The game ended with Seijoh's win. In the end, Iwaizumi had managed to smash through the Iron Wall of Date Tech.

"I guess we know who our next opponents are..."

══════✮❁•°♛°•❁✮ ══════

The whole team, except for Yachi and [y/n] were all very quiet as they prepared for their next match.

That was until Yamaguchi and Yachi both started freaking out.

"What's going on?" Tanaka asked Yamaguchi.

"Yachi-san's heart!" Yamaguchi shouted, flailing around in panic. "Her heart! Ahh!"

"Calm down, Yamaguchi," Nishinoya said, a big grin on his face when he saw the scene happening in front of his eyes.

"Should we call 110?!" Asahi asked in worry as Yamaguchi continued to panic while Yachi tried to hold back her vomit.

"It's 119," Tsukishima stated in a bored tone behind them.

[y/n] stared at them, wide-eyed before he shook his head in disbelief and returned to his stretching. He wasn't exactly nervous about the match, in fact, [y/n] was trembling with excitement, being able to play against Oikawa-san and Iwaizumi-san after so long. Luckily he was allowed to play in this round, or he might go insane if he still couldn't play.

[y/n] chuckled softly at his own thought.

Karasuno might have lost to Seijoh before, but now, they might actually stand a chance against them. With their new skills and improved techniques and basics, Karasuno has a chance of winning. Especially with [y/n] here this time.

"Alright, is everyone here?" Daichi called out, grabbing the whole team's attention. "It's almost time."

[y/n] stood up straight, determination filled his eyes. So did the rest of Karasuno.

"Alright, let's go!"

"Yeah!"

**To be continued...**


	34. Fallen Angel - 32

"This is it, I guess..."

The long awaited match between Karasuno and Seijoh.

[y/n] glanced at Kageyama, who had a tensed expression. He burst out laughing before hitting Kageyama on the back, the setter letting out a 'oof' as he stumbled a few steps forwards, before turning to glare at him.

"You're too tense, Tobio," [y/n] said, ignoring Kageyama's glare. "I'm sure we will do fine."

They did their warmup, hitting the ball towards each other when [y/n] overestimated the force he used, sending the ball towards Seijoh's side.

"Ahh shit..." [y/n] moved to grab the ball, but Kageyama was faster.

The ball stopped at a familiar brunette's feet. He bent down to grab the ball at the same time Kageyama did. Both of them glanced up at each other, before all hell broke lose.

"I will never look down on Iwaizumi's job as your best friend ever again," [y/n] sighed as Oikawa and Kageyama started to try and pull the ball away from each other's grasp.

"Well, well..." Oikawa started, mocking Kageyama. "If it isn't Tobio-chan, who was miserably defeated last time."

"We've come to win this time," he snapped back, glaring at Oikawa.

An irk mark appeared on his temple at Kageyama's words. "I depressed the hell out of you last time. All that left is that bastard, Ushiwaka." Suddenly, he let go of his grasp on the ball, sending Kageyama to fall on his back.

He raised his arms, staring down at Kageyama and declared, "I'm gonna have you get out of the way again, Tobio."

[y/n] could only watch with a raised eyebrow, holding back a snicker for Kageyama's sake as Oikawa started laughing like a madman.

"Take that!"

[y/n] quickly hurried to help Kageyama up, who's scowl only deepened.

"Are you really 18-year-old?" [y/n] asked Oikawa, with a frown. "Or a petty 5-year-old trapped in an adult's body."

The brunette slowly calmed down from laughing, glancing at [y/n] with a smirk. "So you've finally show your face in another volleyball tournament."

[y/n]'s eyes darkened as he scowled at Oikawa's words.

"And with Karasuno, instead of Shiratorizawa like you've always planned, what an unexpected turn of events," he continued with a mocking smile.

"You really should have went to Shiratorizawa, Trashykawa. I bet Iwaizumi's hair is turning grey, thanks to you."

"What?! Why?! You're so mean, [n/n]-chan..."

"At least I wouldn't have to deal with your annoying arse so early," [y/n] huffed.

He turned away, hoping Oikawa didn't see how much his earlier sentence had affected him.

"Good luck, Oikawa-san, I'm glad I get to play against you before you graduate."

He can't blame him though. [y/n] can't blame Oikawa-san and Iwaizumi-san. They didn't know what really happened that day, in the hospital. They probably didn't know about [b/n]'s attempted suicide.

It wasn't [y/n]'s side of the story to tell. [b/n] should tell them himself, his two former best friends when he's finally ready.

"Break a leg, I won't go easy on you."

[y/n] grinned at his words, his heart aching a little when he recognised that phrase.

"I won't either."

══════✮❁•°♛°•❁✮ ══════

_5 years ago..._

Kitagawa Daiichi was losing to Shiratorizawa Academy.

They had taken the first set, but Shiratorizawa had easily snatched back the second set, and was currently taking the lead in the third set.

[y/n] stood among the benched players, fiddling with his fingers nervously as Shiratorizawa scored another point with Ushijima's spike.

[b/n] was exhausted, which was made obvious by the fact that his jumps were not as high and powerful as they were in the beginning. His spikes kept up its consistency though, which the team was glad for since it was Kitagawa Daiichi's main cannon.

Oikawa scored back a point for the team with a setter dump, though the point difference were two points behind that each members were starting to lose hope. It was unimaginable to be able to score two points consecutively against Shiratorizawa after all.

"Shiratorizawa's going to win..."

"I mean, they are a powerhouse school for a reason."

"No one ever expects to win a match against Shiratorizawa... What were we thinking?"

[y/n] gritted his teeth at his own teammates' words. After all, it was just two more points. Two more points and they will tie. They had Oikawa, a genius setter, Iwaizumi and [b/n], who were both amazing at spiking and good at defence. The other players weren't bad either, they were all experienced and skilled players.

But he knew they weren't lying.

Shiratorizawa will win this match. Their power was just too much for Kitagawa Daiichi to overcome.

And they did indeed win the match.

The starting players trudged back to the rest of their team, beads of sweat trickling down their faces. None of them said anything, merely resting, wiping their sweat with their own towels and sipping water from their bottles.

"You did well..."

"Good job..."

The other members greeted the starting players, trying to cheer them up.

None of them were that upset to the point they were bawling loudly. The third-years will still be able to play when they go to high school, and nobody really expected to win against Shiratorizawa, such a prestiges academy with Ushijima in it.

"So, you're going to Shiratorizawa huh..."

[b/n] chuckled softly at Oikawa's words. "Yeah..."

"Iwa-chan and I are going to miss you," Oikawa pouted.

[b/n] rolled his eyes before patting Oikawa on the back. "Don't get so upset, we will still see each other outside of school. Besides," [b/n] smiled, "We get to play against each other on the court."

"That doesn't sound like fun..."

"Yeah, it ain't fun if I don't win against you, Assikawa," [b/n] hummed in agreement.

Oikawa gasped dramatically, reeling backwards in shock. "So mean, [b/n]! You hang out too much with Iwa-chan."

[b/n] snorted. "Flashing news, Oikawa, your precious 'Iwa-chan' is actually a better person to hang out with than you. You better hope someone wish you luck before our first match, I'm not going easy on you." He added after a while.

_"Break a leg, I won't go easy on you."_

"You say that so many times before," [b/n] sighed with a roll of his eyes. "I know it means good luck but-" He gestured at everyone around him before continuing, "...everyone knows that you actually mean it in a bad way. So shut up. Iwaizumi was right all along, you're trash."

"Oi," Oikawa huffed.

[y/n] listened to their banter with interest.

That night however, he spotted [b/n] sitting in his own room, staring at two framed photos with a blank look.

One was the picture taken back in Hyogo, with his former two best friends who he had lost connection with. They were young back then, and it was taken in their elementary school's volleyball club gymnasium.

The other was a picture of Oikawa, Iwaizumi and [b/n], standing outside the ice cream parlour of the nearby amusement park, making silly faces while Iwaizumi stood there with an annoyed look.

For the years to come, their connection slowly severed due to how busy they were with their own lives. Shiratorizawa's training was ruthless, plus [b/n] lived in their dorm rooms, only coming home on Friday night, staying for two more days to visit his family before moving back to his dorm again.

[b/n] didn't bring his two framed photos with him, choosing to leave it in his own empty bedroom at home, where the pictures were slowly collecting dust in a small box left under his bed.

One day, [y/n] found the box, and out of curiosity, he decided to check it out.

The two framed photos were placed inside, together with a few souvenirs that seemed pretty old, and a small piece of paper that had a few words on it. [y/n] recognised those handwriting as [b/n]'s.

_I'm sorry..._

[y/n] didn't understand it until he was older.

When it was too late.

**To be continued...**


	35. Fallen Angel - 33

"Line up!"

Both Karasuno and Seijoh lined up at the end of both their respective courts according to their numbers. Each players' eyes were filled with determination (well all of Karasuno, except for Tsukishima) as they stared at each other.

Karasuno was once again playing against Seijoh. The last match that had haunted them were still fresh in their heads.

The whistle was blown, and both teams bowed at each other.

"Let's play!"

Karasuno gathered in front of Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei for their pep talk before the match officially starts.

"The crow's broken wing has healed, and now it's stronger than ever," Takeda-sensei started. "The bodies and techniques you've trained for this day... Please make sure you go all out and fly into the huge sky. If you're able to do everything that needs to be done, results will follow. That's what I believe."

"Right!"

"Ukai-kun," Takeda-sensei said, turning back to glance at the blond coach.

Ukai nodded at Takeda. "Umm..." He said, walking towards to wear Takeda was standing. "To be honest, Seijoh's a bad match-up for you. As is any team that's calm and collected... But overcoming them is our only option. So overcome that defeat!"

"Yeah!" The team yelled back enthusiastically.

The whistle was blown again, signalling for the starting players to line up inside the court. [y/n] high-fived Nishinoya with the same amount of enthusiasm the libero had before stepping into the court.

"Go, go, go, go, go, Seijoh!"

[y/n] huffed at the cheer team Seijoh has, wondering if they will finally get one of their own soon.

"Push it, push it, push it, push it, push it Seijoh!"

Oikawa bounced the ball against the ground, preparing to serve.

Both Kageyama and [y/n] shared a look.

_'You know what to do.'_

_'Yep, you too I hope.'_

As Oikawa threw the ball up into the air, [y/n]'s eyes narrowed in concentration, as he fixed his position a little.

He jumped and spiked the ball. Like expected, the serve was powerful and quick. Daichi managed to jump in in time to receive the ball, a loud sound resonating through the court as the ball flew to the net.

Both Kindaichi and Hinata jumped up at the same time, but Kindaichi reached the ball first, pushing it back into Karasuno's court.

Kageyama quickly received it with his left arm, keeping it in the air. But since he got the first touch, he couldn't toss the ball.

Nishinoya's eyes sparkled as he ran forwards and jumped behind the attack line, raising his hands upwards to do a toss.

Hinata and [y/n] ran as a decoy, while their ace appeared from behind and spiked the ball down before the blockers can react properly, putting an end to Oikawa's serves.

"Alright!"

"Nice kill! Nice toss!" [y/n] congratulated his senpais.

"Nice Asahi, Nishinoya!" Daichi shouted.

It was Kageyama's turn to serve. He did a jump serve, sending the ball towards Hanamaki's side. It was a dangerous place to serve, and Kageyama was unlucky this time. Hanamaki avoided the ball, letting it hit the ground.

Out ball.

"Don't mind! Don't mind!"

Iwaizumi serves next. His serve was powerful, like expected of an ace of Seijoh. Asahi managed to receive it, though it was a bit long.

"Hit it, Kunimi!"

The ball was above the net, as both Kageyama and Kunimi jumped up. Kageyama managed to touch the ball first with his right hand, pushing it back to their court a little.

[y/n] appeared behind him, spiking the ball down with all his might. It hit the ground before any of their opponents could get to it, scoring Karasuno one point.

"[l/n], nice kill!"

The match went on for a while and both teams were neck-and-neck.

4 - 4

Daichi received the ball, though it flew back to the net.

"Hit it, [l/n]!"

_'Just like the simulation...'_

[y/n]'s eyes widened in realisation when he noted both him and Kageyama's position.

_'Exactly like we practiced...'_

[y/n] and Kageyama shared a look, before [y/n] jumped to hit it. Two blockers were on him. [y/n] met their eyes for less than a second while he was mid-air, before he changed his position to a setting position.

"Kageyama!" [y/n] shouted, tossing the ball to him. Kageyama jumped and spiked the ball. It hit the ground before their opponents could react.

"Alright!" The team cheered.

[y/n] patted Kageyama on the back, "Nice kill!"

"Nice toss..."

The match continued and both schools were still neck-and-neck. By this time, more people had gathered around to watch their match.

[y/n] received the ball with ease, sending it to Kageyama, who tossed it to Tsukishima. He jumped up to spike and Matsukawa received it back to Oikawa.

"Nice, Mattsun," Oikawa said, staring at the ball as it flew towards him.

"Left!" Iwaizumi called out.

Oikawa jumped and tossed, however, instead of giving it to Iwaizumi, he tossed to Hanamaki instead.

Whose ball got blocked by Tsukishima with ease.

"Alright!" The team cheered.

"Nice block!" [y/n] grinned brightly as he congratulated Tsukishima.

6 - 5

"Tsukishima, nice serve!"

Tsukishima served the ball over the net, and Seijoh's libero received it.

"Iwa-chan!" Oikawa shouted as he tossed to him.

The ball got passed Kageyama and Hinata's block and Daichi managed to keep it in the air.

Hinata took a few steps backwards, before he started running to spike.

His ball was blocked by Kindaichi, sending it flying back into Karasuno's court.

_'The ball...'_

[y/n]'s eyes followed the ball, twisting around before he dived for it. But he couldn't reach it fast enough.

_'Just a few more inch...'_

The ball was about to hit the ground when a certain blond middle blocker stepped in and received it with an underhand hit, sending it back to Seijoh's side.

"Nice, Tsukishima!" [y/n] grinned, pushing himself up from the floor before he went back to position as Seijoh got ready to attack.

"Damn it, I'll get the next one!" Hinata said in frustration when Kageyama decided the next best way to proceed was-

"Ugahhh!"

[y/n] jumped at Hinata's unexpected shout as he was kicked by Kageyama.

"Calm down, you... uh... boke!"

[y/n] sweat dropped at Kageyama's words, before turning his attention back to the ball.

"We are counting on you, Iwaizumi-san!" the libero shouted, using an underhand hit to toss the ball to him.

Iwaizumi spiked and Hinata managed to get a one-touch. The ball flew to the back row where Asahi received it, sending it to Kageyama.

Hinata sprinted off once again as Kageyama prepared to toss.

_'That spike filled with despair...'_

Hinata jumped before Kageyama tossed, his eyes scanning his opponent's court for a brief second.

_'Break through it!'_

Hinata spiked the ball, getting it passed Kindaichi's block. The libero failed to receive it, the ball flying out of the court instead.

Karasuno gaped, staring at where the ball landed as the whistle was blown.

"Ahhhhh!"

Both Hinata and Kageyama high-fived, the team cheering loudly at Hinata's successful spike.

"Nice kill, Hinata!" [y/n] shouted, ruffling his hair.

Hinata giggled before they fist bumped.

"Nice toss too, Kageyama!"

"Thanks."

Hinata turned to glare at Kageyama, "You kicked me for real, you jerk!"

"I woke you up, boke!"

"What did you say-"

Before the scene can escalate, [y/n] pushed the two of them apart and Asahi gripped the back of Hinata's shirt to prevent him from pouncing on Kageyama.

"Oi, guys... Please calm down..."

As the game continued, Hinata managed to score with another off-course spike, proving to others that it wasn't just luck. [y/n] had also managed to score a point with a no-touch service ace, putting the team a good two points ahead of Seijoh.

It was Oikawa's turn to serve again. Daichi managed to receive this serve, annoying Oikawa a little as Daichi sent it to Kageyama.

"Daichi-san, nice receive!"

Hinata ran from the left to the right, performing a slide hit. He jumped before Kageyama tossed to him. Hinata spiked it to the edge of the court, before the libero could react, scoring Karasuno one point.

"Alright!"

"Nice, Hinata!"

"Tobio, nice serve!" [y/n] shouted as Kageyama bounced the ball against the ground.

The libero received it, though it was off-course. Instead of Oikawa, Hanamaki stepped in to toss the ball, giving it to Kunimi.

It was a quick attack, Hinata and [y/n] barely managed to react in time, [y/n] gritted his teeth, realising the gap between them would allow the ball to pass through.

There were quite a few choices for Kunimi to choose from. He could have gone for somewhere else besides the gap between Hinata and [y/n]'s arms.

[y/n] swung his arms to block the gap, trusting his gut instincts. He felt the ball grazing the tip of his fingers.

[y/n] was too slow, when he heard the sound of the ball slamming against the wooden floor.

"Don't mind! Don't mind!" Daichi shouted, clapping his hands together to try and cheer the team up.

"Damn it, I was too slow..." [y/n] sighed. "Sorry..."

"It's fine, nothing could be done about it."

[y/n] cheered up a little at Kageyama's reassurance before turning his attention back to Seijoh. It was Iwaizumi's turn to serve, though his serve hit the net instead, scaring poor Kunimi.

18 - 16

Currently, Karasuno was ahead of Seijoh by two points. However, Hanamaki managed to get a spike in, and Nishinoya failed to receive it, bringing Seijoh one point closer to Karasuno.

[y/n] readied himself as Kindaichi got ready to serve, knowing the ball was most likely coming to him since with the backline setter coming out, it would most likely mess up the receive.

Luckily, [y/n] received the ball just as Kageyama ran passed him.

"Nice receive!" Kageyama shouted as he got ready to toss.

Hinata ran in for another slide hit, however this time, Matsukawa was following him.

_'Commit block!'_

[y/n] realised and moved a step forwards, getting ready to receive the ball in case it got block.

Instead of blocking from Hinata's dominant hand side, Matsukawa closed off the space for Hinata to do a cross spike, forcing him to hit a straight.

Kindaichi received it and Oikawa tossed to Kunimi, who spiked it. [y/n] used his left hand to receive the ball, managing to keep it up in the air, however, it was flying back to the net. Oikawa slammed it down before anyone had the chance to react, scoring Seijoh one point.

Right now, they were at a tie.

And something inside of [y/n] snapped.   
  
  
  
  
  


**To be continued...**   
****


	36. Fallen Angel - 34

Frustration fuelled him. 

It affected his gameplay, causing him to make more mistakes than usual.

[y/n] knows it. The rest of the team probably realised it as well.

Then why hadn't they switch him out with Tanaka? It was obvious [y/n] was causing them to lose more points than if Tanaka was the one playing instead.

He had failed a serve just now, getting it caught up in the net. And then his spike got blocked.

[y/n]'s feet touched the ground, trying his best to ignore the surprise look Kindaichi had on his face as the ball slammed back into Karasuno's court.

The Angel's spike, had just been blocked. It wasn't that it had never happened before. [y/n] was never invincible. But Kindaichi blocked it. Kindaichi, who had never been able to get at least a one-touch from [y/n]'s spikes back in Kitagawa Daiichi.

The surprise look on Kindaichi's face morphed into happiness. [y/n] glanced away, feeling even more frustrated than he was in the beginning.

Aside from [y/n], the rest of the team did well though.

It suddenly felt like junior high all over again. His feet was tied up and he was stuck to the ground, while the rest of his team was getting further and further ahead.

_The Fallen Angel._

Something was wrong, but [y/n] couldn't exactly understand why he was feeling so frustrated. He wanted to grip his hair, pull it out, anything to keep him occupied from the old memories eating away his sanity, slowly.

But [y/n] suppressed it, choosing to put on a small smile instead as he congratulated Asahi for his successful spike.

The game went on, with Karasuno still in the lead. Seijoh had occasionally gotten a tie with Karasuno, but they had always managed to pull ahead.

Nishinoya received the ball cleanly, sending it to Kageyama.

"[y/n]!"

[y/n] did his run up, jumping up as high as he could as Kageyama tossed to him. He took about a second to assess his opponents' position before spiking. Though he had been too worked up, missing Kindaichi.

[y/n] landed on the ground, his eyes on the ball he had just spiked, hitting Kindaichi's fingers, getting Seijoh a one-touch. Their libero easily saved the ball, sending it to Oikawa.

22 - 21

Karasuno was still in the lead, however, Seijoh was slowly catching up.

Oikawa tossed to Kindaichi, who jumped up to spike it. However, it was blocked by Hinata. Watari dived for it, though he was too late. The ball hit the ground, scoring Karasuno one point.

"Alright!"

"Nice block, Hinata!" [y/n] said, grinning at the orange haired male.

He turned away from the team and clenched his jaw. If it wasn't for Hinata, they might have lost this one point, and get a tie with Seijoh.

If Karasuno wants to take the first set, [y/n] first had to calm down. He inhaled deeply, letting his body relax to calm himself down.

The game continued. This time, Kindaichi spiked again, though none of the Karasuno members could react in time to receive the ball.

_'I could have saved it.'_

[y/n] thought, staring at where the ball landed.

_Hopeless._

_Useless._

_Coward._

"[y/n]."

[y/n] blinked a few times, snapping himself out of his trance before turning to face the owner of that voice. Kageyama stood in front of him, with a frown present on his face.

"Oikawa's serving."

[y/n] took a few seconds to process Kageyama's words, but when he did, he forced a smile. "Thank you."

He watched Oikawa, realising there was something different about him with the glint in his eyes.

"Just in case, watch the back of your head," Iwaizumi told Kindaichi, raising his hands to the back of his head.

[y/n] readied himself when he heard Iwaizumi's words.

The whistle was blown before Oikawa tossed the ball into the air.

"Bring it!" Both Daichi an Nishinoya shouted, as Oikawa started his approach.

He jumped and swing his arm, his palm meeting the ball. Before anyone of them could react, a loud sound resonated through the court from behind them.

[y/n]'s eyes were wide from that display of power, slowly turning his head to the back of the court, where both Nishinoya and Daichi were shell-shocked as well.

That was...

Basically a spike.

[y/n] didn't celebrate much when it was revealed that it was an out ball. Most of the team didn't, still shocked by Oikawa's power.

"Lucky, lucky!" Daichi grinned, clapping his hands. "Let's get another one."

24 - 22

One more point and Karasuno would take this set. [y/n] readied himself for the next rally. Even though his eyes were on the Seijoh team, he couldn't concentrate well.

_'You can't mess this up. It's the last point. Just one more.'_

One more point. One more point. [y/n] desperately tried to convince himself. He can't break down now, when Karasuno was winning.

Kageyama spiked and Watari managed to receive the ball nicely. Oikawa tossed to Iwaizumi, who spiked it passed the blocker.

24 - 23

_'One more point...'_

[y/n] forced himself to focus, ignoring the depressed thoughts slowly creeping back into his mind.

"Stay calm, just one more!" Daichi shouted, trying to reassure his teammates. "We're gonna get this one."

"Right!"

Just then, the whistle was blown again, surprising Karasuno. [y/n] glanced at the side of the court, where the referee was at, to find a male with short-cropped blond hair and two black stripes running across the side of his head, holding a plate with the number '13'.

Kunimi walked out of the court and grabbed the number plate from him. [y/n] could only watch as #16 walked into the court, his eyes narrowed dangerously. The mere aura of his already made quite a few people tremble in fear and nervousness.

"Maybe they are just trying to strengthen their left block," Daichi suggested as they stared at #16. He turned back to the team. "Make sure your spikes don't get caught."

"Right."

Iwaizumi served and Daichi managed to receive that intense serve.

"[y/n]!"

[y/n] watched the ball, before he started to run.

_'Don't mess this up. You can't mess it up. The team is counting on you.'_

[y/n] jumped up to spike, preparing to swing his arm when the past mistakes he made earlier flashed in front of his eyes.

The failed serve.

The failed spike.

The points they lost because he couldn't move fast enough to receive.

_'Crap.'_

[y/n] barely managed to swing his arm and spike the ball before it was too late. Hanamaki got a one-touch.

"Chance ball!" Watari shouted, as he moved a few steps backwards, hands raised to do an overhand pass.

Kindaichi started moving as Oikawa stared up at the ball, preparing to spike.

[y/n]'s eyes widened when he saw #16 running in from behind at a very fast pace, knocking into Kindaichi when he jumped. He moved up to spike, smashing the ball with great power.

A loud sound echoed through the court, the same sound that had sounded before with Oikawa's serve.

The whistle was blown and the red flag on Karasuno's side was raised.

Out ball.

But Karasuno had no time to celebrate.

[y/n] stared at #16, his stomach churning uncomfortably.

The raw power both of them has...

The next set is going to be very challenging to overcome.

**To be continued...**


	37. Fallen Angel - 35

"That #16... You guys haven't seen him before?"

"No."

[y/n] gulped down his water, before using the back of his hand to wipe his mouth.

Is Coach Ukai going to ask him to switch out with Tanaka for the second set? Did anyone even realised [y/n]'s terrible gameplay.

He contemplated asking Ukai-san to switch him out himself, glancing at his teammates. It would be for the better if he was switched out and given time to recompose himself. He was obviously doing more worse than good.

_Fallen Angel._

[y/n]'s grip on his bottle tighten. It was like junior high all over again, wasn't it. A coward will always be a coward.

With his mind made up, [y/n] walked towards Coach Ukai, mentally preparing the words. As he got closer, he got more nervous. [y/n] clenched his fists, digging his nails into the palm of his hands. It's either this or risk losing.

What's the worse that can happen?

"Coach," [y/n] started, grabbing his team's attention. "Can you switch me out with-"

"No!"

[y/n]'s eyes widened in surprise when Kageyama shouted unexpectedly. Kageyama's face was scrunched up in anger. [y/n] could hear desperation laced in his tone.

"We need you in the court." He continued, voice softer this time.

"No you don't. It's... obvious my gameplay is worse this game. The next set will be better off with Tanaka instead of me...."

Kageyama gripped his shoulders and shook him, shocking [y/n]. Asahi stepped in and tried to stop the two from breaking into a fight. Tanaka was saying something along the line of 'your enemy is on the other side of the net, not here'.

Both of them ignored Tanaka and Asahi.

"You're thinking about it again, aren't you?! How useless you are, what a coward."

[y/n] paled drastically. His breath hitched in his throat, and he could feel _it_ coming.

"You're not wrong! You're a coward!"

"Oi... guys, calm down..." Sugawara started.

"You're selfish," Kageyama continued, ignoring Sugawara as well. "You're too blind to see that we need you."

It took a while before [y/n] managed to get back his voice. He pushed Kageyama's hands off. "You don't need me. Karasuno is strong without me."

Kageyama didn't say anything. [y/n] took this as his chance to tell Coach Ukai what he had originally wanted to ask him. "Coach, I want to switch out with Tanaka for the second set."

"Please, [y/n]..."

Why? Why was Kageyama so desperate to the point he was pleading for [y/n] to stay? It was obvious it won't do the team any good with [y/n] being on the court right now, especially against that #16.

It annoyed [y/n], the more he thought about it. Kageyama wants to win, he would do anything to win.

_"I will only toss to those who I think are useful!"_

He was the King of the Court for a reason. A ruthless dictator that will use his teammates like pawns to win.

_"Faster!"_

Who is this Kageyama? Standing in front of him?

_'It's not him.'_

_'It's not him.'_

_'IT'S NOT HIM.'_

_'_ Ḯ̴̢̺͓͕̻̃̍͊͝T̶̳͗͘'̷̛̥̝͓͎̼̗͌͆̈͊̆́́̿̚S̵̙̬̓͒̓̃̕ ̸̖̟̓̕Ṋ̸͑̑Ọ̸̢̖̖͇͔͓͌͆͌͑̀͐̀͊ͅT̷͓͙̣̱͕̅̽͜ ̷̙̦̯͉̆̀̆̽̓͝Ḫ̸̢̡̡̖̩̱̻̇̈́͛͋̂̈̐Î̵͖̜͛M̴̞̙̥͕͐̈́́̑͊̆̈͒̓͝'

"Please [y/n], the team-"

"YOU ALL WILL DO FINE WITHOUT ME!" [y/n] snapped. "I'm useless right now! Didn't you say before, you will only toss to those who are useful? You're the King of the Court! I'm nothing more than a mere peasant, useless to you!"

Oh no.

[y/n] took a few steps backwards, his eyes widening in realisation when he saw how Kageyama's face darkened.

"Tobio-"

[y/n] was cut off by the whistle. It was only then he realised how many people must have caught their argument.

"Tobio-" [y/n] started again, but Kageyama ignored him, choosing to walk into the court silently, head low.

"I think it's better that you switch out with Tanaka first, cool your head," Coach Ukai told [y/n]. He glanced back at Ukai-san and saw the look on his face.

Pity.

It made [y/n] sick. Mixed in with the guilt crashing into him, he felt _it_ coming.

He stood beside the rest of the benched players, finding his shoes more interesting as he stared down at the ground. He couldn't meet his teammates' face, he didn't want to see pity, or disappointment.

It was all like junior high again.

It didn't have to be him against the world.

But he dug himself too deep, and now, he can't get out.

══════✮❁•°♛°•❁✮ ══════

The first time [y/n] met Kageyama wasn't in Kitagawa Daiichi.

He saw him in the community club's volleyball court, practicing volleyball with an older looking man.

Kageyama probably don't remember him, but [y/n]'s memory of him was vivid.

A quiet young kid, with a permanent glare on his face that will probably scare off other kids his age.

But [y/n] saw something much deeper buried underneath that scary looks of his.

He was just like him.

They never interact that day, but [y/n] remembered him.

And then they officially met in Kitagawa Daiichi after so many years. [y/n] was excited to meet him, though he didn't know how to approach the asocial kid. Kageyama would sure be weirded out if he had known that a random stranger he had never interacted with before remembered his face vividly after so many years.

He learnt his name; Kageyama Tobio, but they never really had the chance to interact until much later into the year.

"Umm... Could you help me with my serves later, [l/n]-san?"

[y/n] stopped stopped in his tracks, turning to look at the taller male. "O-Oh, sure!"

They stayed back after practice for a while. [y/n] picked up a ball from the bag, bouncing it against the ground. "To be honest, your serves are quite good-"

"I want to learn the jump serve," Kageyama stated bluntly. He paused for a while, blushing in embarrassment when he realised how rude he was. "Sorry..."

[y/n] merely laughed. "It's okay. Though I don't understand why you would ask me? Oikawa-san, Nii-chan and Iwaizumi-san are better at jump serves than me."

Kageyama hesitated a little before he answered, "Oikawa-san didn't want to teach me..."

"As expected," [y/n] snorted. "He probably views you as an enemy or something coming to take his place as a setter with your immense talent."

"You looked friendlier as well," Kageyama added after a while.

[y/n] raised an eyebrow at his words.

Since it was their first time talking, it was quite awkward. [y/n] taught Kageyama the basics of a jump serve. He tried to slip in some jokes, or start little small talks here and there to lessen the awkwardness in the air. One hour past really quickly, and soon, the sky outside was pitch black.

"[n/n]!" [b/n] shouted, popping his head into the court to find both first-years sitting on the ground, sweating buckets. "Did you worked yourself too hard again?" He frowned in concern.

"Nope!" [y/n] replied, though his muscles were saying different.

"I told you not to work yourself. You will die from exhaustion-"

"Don't be so negative," [y/n] laughed. He pushed himself up from the ground, picking up the volleyballs littered on the ground. "Come on, Kageyama-kun! Race you!"

"Yer gotta be kidding me..." [b/n] sighed as he watched the two first-years ran around the court, trying to see who can collect the most balls faster.

"You done?"

"Yep!" [y/n] shouted enthusiastically, despite being very exhausted.

"Come on, if you don't hurry, there won't be any food."

"Oh no," [y/n] paled. He turned back to face Kageyama, who was watching their sibling antic with an unreadable expression. "Bye Kageyama!"

They waved at each other, before [y/n] followed after his brother.

"So someone actually asked you to teach them how to serve huh."

"Apparently it was because the third-years aren't friendly enough."

"Obviously, towering close to a head over you will be creepy for any young kids like you."

"Really? Young kid? We are only two years apart."

[b/n] let out a hearty chuckle. "So how was it?"

"Hmm.... It was awkward in the beginning. We've never talked before..."

"Understandable."

"But he's fun!" [y/n] said, brightening up. "I think a lot of people misunderstands him a lot because of that permanent glare he has."

"Well, I'm glad you found a friend," [b/n] smiled, ruffling [y/n]'s hair. "You can't always just hangout with the third-years only, you know."

[y/n] pursed his lips at [b/n]'s words.

It had always been hard for [y/n] to mix with others without his brother there. He struggled making friends on his own.

"We are going to be gone soon, I won't be here forever, [n/n]."

"I know..." [y/n] sighed.

"It won't be hard. Trust me. Someone will come along, and you will click immediately."

"It's just... I'm scared they will leave me."

"I guess none of us can avoid that. Friends come and go, we've just gotta learn to accept that and enjoy the moment."

"You're right..."

"Anyway, wanna get some pork buns?"

[y/n]'s eyes sparkled. "You don't even have to ask."

"Alright come on then," [b/n] chuckled.

From that day onwards, Kageyama and [y/n] started talking more. Pretty soon, they hung out with each other most of the time, during lunch, practice, or off-days, practicing volleyball in one of their backyards.

Kageyama was the first official friend [y/n] had made without the help of his brother.

Everything was going well, until their third year. Where everything started going downhill.

Kageyama started acting different.

[y/n] had his own problems to deal with.

Both of them were more alike than they'd like to think they were.

_I'm scared they will leave me one day._

**To be continued...**


End file.
